Author's note: Hey everyone, FireSlash here and welcome to another chapter of 'A Different Kind of Power.' Before we begin, I would like to thank everyone who's shown support for the story so far. It means a lot to me. Second, I'd like to address some constructive criticism. Someone mentioned that since this is a fanfic, I shouldn't waste too much time describing the appearances of characters other than OCs since you all already know what they look like. It adds unnecessary exposition dumps. Rereading the two chapters, I realize this person is right, so I'll do my best to lower the amount of exposition dumps from now on :-). Also, for those of you who are wondering why Justine and Caroline are in the story instead of Lavenza, that'll be explained later, so don't worry. Finally, ships are still being decided, so vote for who you want Ren to end up either in the reviews or on the poll I created (polls alternate each week, so you may have to wait a bit). So far, Makoto is winning with two votes while Ann and Futaba are second with one vote each.

Now with all that being said, let's get to the story. Review and enjoy :-)

0000

"Sorry, come again?"

"I said I wanna go back to the Shadow Realm!" Ryuji hollered at the boy. The day after their run-in with Kamoshida's castle, Ryuji asked Ren to meet him at the school's rooftop. Curious, the boy decided to check out what his new friend wanted to tell him, not expecting it to be that he wanted to return to such a horrible place. They nearly died last time they entered the Shadow Realm, the only reason they survived was because Morgana was conveniently locked up as well. Though Ren was powerful, he knew the castle had stronger shadows scattered around, not to mention that Kamoshida's shadow himself would have definitely been a bit too much for the combined forces of Morgana and him. Thankfully, the shadow was too much of a coward to face them head on, instead relying on his minions to do all the work. Yet, despite that, the yellow haired boy still wanted to go back, but what for?

"Why?"

"Well, remember those kids we saw while we were in the dungeon? Are we seriously just going to leave them? I for one want to save them!"

"Bad idea," Ren replied, shaking his head. "They aren't real, just figments of Kamoshida's imagination."

"...Well now I feel stupid," Ryuji slouched, only for his eyes to lighten a second later. "Hey, can't we go back in there to take some pictures of the kids being tortured and send it to the police?"

Ren shaked his head again. "No one's going to believe us if we do. And cameras don't work in there."

"Damnit! Maybe you can rough up Kamoshida a bit as the Phantom Thief? Surly something will be done if the world famous vigilante is involved…"

This earned yet another head shake from the vigilante. "I need proof that he's committing a crime. From what it looks like, Kamoshida's doing all this in private. Now, if we could get people to speak up as witnesses or victims of his crimes, then that idea will work."

"Shit," Ryuji growled. It was clear as day that he wanted the guy to pay for his crimes. "I didn't get a chance to see who was in there...wait, I got an idea!"

Even though Ren knew where he was going with this, he allowed his friend to speak. "We already have a way to infiltrate the castle without getting caught and after all we've been through in there, it's safe to say we can remember how to get out, so what if we go in, memorize some of their faces, and grab some witnesses! Good plan, am I right?"

Looking down, Ren began to think. On one hand, this was possibly the best way to stop Kamoshida's reign of terror. On the other hand, the two could die. More importantly, Ryuji could die. While Ren obviously cared for his life, if he got someone killed because of his actions, then he would never forgive himself. In addition, he would have to take Ryuji, for the boy probably knew a good portion of the school, which will come in handy seeing as some of the shadows will just be placeholders for the students Kamoshida didn't bother to memorize. As such, the only thing he could do is bring the kid along.

"...Fine, we'll go back in..."

"Yes!"

"...tomorrow."

"What! Why?"

"If we're going to do this, then we need to be prepared. I've never infiltrated a castle before, so I'll need to buy supplies to compensate for that."

"Ugh, fine!" Ryuji sighed in defeat, only for Ren to smirk at him.

"Don't worry, something tells me you'll like what I'll be buying. I just have a quick question, do you know a place that sells fake weapons?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Cool, can you show me where it is?"

"Sure." With that, the two boys began making their way to the big city with Ryuji being extremely confused as to why the Persona user wanted fake weapons to begin with…

0000

"Well, here it is," Ryuji said, having led Ren to an Airsoft shop located in Shibuya named 'Untouchable.' With it being located in an alleyway, Ren was amazed the boy even knew this place existed. "I've never actually been inside though…"

Nodding, Ren immediately opened the door and was greeted with the sight of various military equipment piled around. Though they looked realistic, a good look at some of the equipment was enough to determine they were only models. Taking a quick glance around, Ren noticed there only seemed to be one person in the store, a man with a gecko tattoo on the left side of his neck who was lazing behind the cash register. Since he was obviously the owner of this fine establishment, Ren began making his way to him.

"What do you kids want?" the man asked, not bothering to look at them.

Ren gave him a calm smile. "We'd like to buy some stuff."

Looking upwards, the man quickly eyed the two. Seriously, what were two children doing here? "None of what I'm selling are toys, so if that's what you're looking for, then scram."

"We know."

The man stared at them quizzingly for a moment before responding. "...Tch, whatever. As long as you're paying, then I could care less about what you buy."

"Thank you."

Investigating the products being sold in the store, it didn't take Ren long to find something he liked. Placing a Levinson M31 and a pair of shoulder pads, the boy handed the man the appropriate money. After counting the money, the man took it and handed Ren the bought gear.

"Is that all?"

"For now," Ren replied, earning another glance from the man.

"...You're a strange kid, you know that?"

Ren rubbed the back of his head. "I get that a lot." He wasn't lying, his silent nature often caused him to look strange in the eyes of others wherever he first meets them.

"I bet you do," He said as Ren began walking out the store, having finished shopping. "Have a good night."

0000

When the two teens exited the store, they began making their way to the train station. It was getting a bit late, and Ren really wanted to get some rest in before they infiltrated the castle again.

"So, you still haven't told me why you bought all those stuff," Ryuji spoke as they entered the subway station.

"It's for you to defend yourself," Ren answered, earning yet another look of confusion from the blonde.

"Uh, those are fake, remember?"

"Yeah, but they work differently in the Shadow Realm. When you bring a toy gun into their world, they're able to fire real bullets."

"You serious? How the hell's that possible?"

"I don't know," Ren answered truthfully. He had tried getting asking Igor about this before, but he never understood the explanations given to him by his master. "I only know the guns seem to be preloaded and start working like the real things whenever you enter the Shadow Realm. When you leave though, the bullets disappear and the weapons become fake once again. The shoulder pads I bought also change in the shadow world. Somehow, they're able to withstand the attacks coming from Shadows."

"...The shadow Realm makes no sense," Ryuji said, dumbfoled by the explanation.

Ren chucked in agreement. "You're not wrong there. I hardly understand it either." He then gave the boy the bag of goods he bought from the store. "Make sure you bring this with you tomorrow. Oh, and try to hide it from your parents. Last thing I need is to be accused of arming someone. I'm already a criminal…"

"Hah, don't worry," Ryuji replied, giving him a thumbs up. "I got your back. I may not look like it, but I know how to keep a secret."

"Considering you haven't told anyone about 'you know what,' I believe you."

Their train arriving a second later, the boys began talking to one another about trivial topics, not wanting anyone on board to know of their plans. Of course, they'd think the two boys were talking about a video game or something, but they weren't going to take that chance. Who knows if there were others who knew about the Shadow Realm…

0000

The next day, Ren made his way back to the school roof, ready for the mission. He expected to be the first one up there, but was surprised to see Ryuji was already there waiting for him.

You know, now that he thought about it, it did make sense why Ryuji managed to beat him. He did hang back a bit to ask Miss Kawakami about some of the material taught today, much to her surprise. It wasn't a secret she still believed him to be a delinquent.

"Took ya long enough," the blonde said, dropping a bag on the floor. Opening it, he pulled out the shoulder pads Ren had given him and began putting them on his body. "I'm ready when you are."

"Just remember," Ren began saying as he started creating the portal to the Shadow Realm. "This is a stealth mission. You're not allowed to fight the shadows unless I'm nearly dead or one of them tries to attack you." Having finished making the portal, Ren handed his friend a small box. "Here, take these."

"Tylenol?" Ryuji asked. "How's this going to help?"

"Medicine works differently there as well," Ren told him. "Somehow these things can heal broken bones."

"Damn, wish they could do that here," Ryuji mumbed, eying his leg for some reason. "These things hardly do what they're supposed to when I have a small headache."

"I feel ya," Ren chuckled. "C'mon, let's get going already before someone catches us."

Giving each other a small nod, the two boys leaped inside the portal, it closing behind them a second afterwards.

0000

"You guys again?" Morgana asked in disbelief. Upon entering the Shadow World, Ryuji and Ren snuck back into the castle through the infiltration point they escaped from last time. Unknown to them, Morgana had decided to hide out in the room as well, needing to catch his breath. "What are you doing here? Do you have a deathwish or something?"

"What?! No! We're trying to stop Kamoshida," Ryuji explained, only for Morgana to facepalm.

"You don't even have a Persona moron. You're better off trying to fight him in your world. What in the Shadow World do you think is going to help a powerless person such as yourself?"

"Simple, witnesses. We're going back to the dungeon to get a good look at the people imprisoned there and when we get back to our world, we'll talk their real selves. Hopefully they'd be willing to tell the police everything."

"That has got to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard…"

"It's the only plan we got," Ren admitted, kind of ashamed of having such a barbaric plan. "But we've got nothing else and Kamoshida needs to be stopped. He may not own an army of shadows in our world, but he's been abusing kids for the longest now without consequence. If we even try opposing him right now, we'll just end up getting crushed."

Looking at Ren, the strange cat was able to see the amount of determination radiating from his eyes. This caused him to sigh. "You're lucky I need you Frizzy hair."

"Huh?" Ren tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what the cat meant. They only met once, how could he need him already? In fact, what does even he need him for?

"We all know you two hardly know how to navigate this maze of a castle. I'll tell ya what, I'll help you with your little suicide mission, but only of Frizzy hair here promises to help me later. Sound good?"

"I'd be willing to listen to you," Ren replied, crossing his arms. He couldn't take the offer without knowing what he was agreeing to help the cat with. For all he knows, it could be something bad.

"...You're smart, I like that," Morgana said with a smirk. "Fine, I accept your terms. Now, let's get going already. The quicker we get this done, the less likely we'll die."

With the deal being made, Morgana began to take the lead, Ren and Ryuji following close behind.

"Are you really going to listen to him?" Ryuji whispered to his friend. Sure, Morgana did help them out last time, but for some reason, the blonde was having a bit of a hard time trusting him. It was probably because Morgana could be a creation of the Shadow Realm. Talking cartoon looking cats don't just come from nowhere, and based on some of the appearances of the various shadows he's seen so far, Morgana does seem like he would fit in with them just fine.

"It's only fair that I do," Ren replied, pointing to the boy's gun a second later. "Keep your gun out at all times and remember what I said, only fire if absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

0000

True to his word, Morgana began leading them to the dungeon, which only required the climbing down a large spiral staircase, making both Ren and Ryuji feel slightly embarrassed they didn't figure that out the first time. Once they reached the bottom, Morgana signaled them to hide behind a wall as he popped his head out of the corridor. Doing so allowed him to witness two guards watching over the prison hall they needed to traverse through.

"There's two guards blocking our path," Morgana informed the boys. "Before we do anything, do any of you know how to ambush shadows?"

"Uh, don't you ambush the like you would a normal enemy?" Ryuji asked as Ren shrugged his shoulders. When it came to fighting shadows, he only made sure to attack them when they lacked allies. Even then, he relied more on his agility than stealth to gain the advantage. When rushing into battle, Ren always made sure to get the first hit, for if the shadows did, it would cause him to stagger, giving them time to ambush him. Because of this, Ren gave Morgana a look of interest, wanting to know how to make fighting shadows easier.

"Wow you're a moron," Morgana groaned, earning a huff from the boy. "If you just tip toe towards them, they'll just notice you. Instead, you got to hide in the shadows, leaping only when the time's right, a skill all Persona users have. Watch."

Without any sort of warning beforehand, Morgana dived behind a crate, blending into the shadows as if he was a ninja. He continued leaping through the shadows casted by the crates littered around the halls until he was near the shadows. Waiting a few moments for one of them to leave, Morgana hopped on the remaining shadow's face, catching it off guard as he ripped it's mask off, two horned horses taking its place.

"And that's how you ambush like a pro," Morgana boasted as Ren ran towards him to help fend off the shadows, Meanwhile, Ryuji hid behind a box for cover.

Taking a good look at the horned horses, Ren recognized them to be Bicorns. Bicorns were primarily physically oriented with great agility. They also had decent magic, specializing in wind magic, but it was nothing really too special. In addition, they resisted curse damage and were weak to electricity. In general, they were great Personas to use in combat, and the wind coverage was something the boy needed.

"Hey Morgana, mind keeping one alive for me?"

Morgana opened his mouth, preparing to ask the boy why on Earth he would ever want to allow a Shadow to go free, but he ended up closing it, remembering how Ren got that Incubus to join his side. "Gotcha, just make sure it doesn't kill us."

"You can count on me." Snapping his fingers, Ren summoned his Phantom Thief costume, Morgana attacking one of the shadows while he did this.

"Come forth my other self, Garu!" The cat shouted as his Persona began to appear behind him. With a quick wave of its sword, Zoro launched a powerful gust of air, damaging one of the Bicorns.

Clutching his mask, Ren began summoning Agathion, wanting to exploit the Bicorn's weakness to electricity. "Ravage them! Zio!"

"Alrighty~" With a childish laugh, Agathion began charging up energy before releasing it at the damage Bicorn, making it blow up instantly. After doing so, Ren wasted no time in allacking his ally, for hitting an enemy's weak point somehow allows someone to fire off another attack at blinding speeds, yet another thing Ren didn't understand but never bothered questioning.

"You're mine."

Knowing full well what his master wanted, Agathion fired another Zio, this time purposely making it weaker so that it didn't kill the shadow. With it now kneeling on the floor, Ren and Morgana began surrounding it, making sure it didn't try anything funny. Closing its eyes, the shadow prepared for his death, only for it to never come.

Reopening his eyes, the shadow shot Ren a puzzled glance. "Well? What are ye' waitin' for? You won, end this already."

"Do you really want to die?" Ren asked the Bicorn. "I'm willing to let you live if you lend me your power."

Hearing this caused the Bicorn to snort. "...A bad rep spreads like wildfire. If I were you, I'd quit whatever nonsense you're doing right now. What's the point?"

Immediately, Ren's mind began thinking about how to answer this question. He wanted to convince the Bicorn to tag along with him and based on how he answered the question would determine if he was worthy of receiving his power. With the Bicorn having asked such a question so bluntly, Ren felt it deserved an equally blunt answer. "I don't care if there ends up being a point in what I do. As long as I try, I'm satisfied."

It seemed he relatively liked that answer, for he asked he gave the boy a nod before asking a second question. "...Hey, yer kina skinny, ain't you? I hear even men go on diets too...what do you usually eat?"

...To Ren, the shadows sometimes didn't make any sense. Whenever he bothered negotiating with them, they'd sometimes ask these random questions even though the two were trying to kill each other earlier. Personal questions like the first one the boy understood, but something like this? Why was what he ate a priority? "Uh, vegetables really…"

"Hmph, you know, you remind me of myself when I was younger…" The Bicorn admitted before his eyes widened. "Now that I think about it...I'm not just some shadow. I am Bicorn. As thanks for helping me remember who I am, I will gladly lend you my power."

Now a part of Ren's Personas, the Bicorn turned into a near identical version of the boy's mask, being absorbed into the actual one a second later.

With combat having finished, Ryuji left his hiding spot and ran up to the two Persona users. "Dude, that ninja thing you did was sick!"

"Yeah, I know I'm awesome and all, but would it kill you to keep your gushing at a lower volume?"

"I try to be nice to you and this is what I get…"

"Guys, focus," Ren whispered to them. "We got a mission, remember?"

Morgana gave Ryuji a sly smile. "Yeah Ryuji, focus." Ignoring the boy's protests, Morgana began walking forwards. "Let's go."

0000

After the corridor, the only thing separating them from where the prisoners were kept was a small bridge. They were able to cross the bridge with ease, but upon doing so, the three began to hear three voices coming from the direction they needed to go. Based on how they kept getting louder, it was easy to tell they were getting closer to them.

"We cannot let the intruders mess anything up!"

Ryuji shot his two allies a worried glance. "Shit, what now?"

Worried himself, Ren began glancing around, hoping to find somewhere to hide. Three armored shadows were too much for the boy to handle, unless they each had one shadow in them, but that was highly unlikely. Unfortunately, they were out in the open with nowhere to hide. Well, there was a room next to them, but what's stopping them from searching there.

"Can it be?" Morgana asked himself, noticing the door as well. "Quickly, in here!"

"What good will that do when they can jus-"

"No time to explain, just trust me," Morgana interrupted before swiftly entering the room. Having no other options, the two boys simply followed him inside.

Upon entering the room, Ren found himself feeling different. He didn't know how to describe it, but it was almost as if the dread he felt every time he entered the Shadow Realm was gone.

Meanwhile, Morgana sat on top of the sole table located in the room, allowing himself to relax a bit. "Welcome to the safe room."

"Safe room?" Ryuji asked, only for the room's appearance to conveniently shift into that of a classroom before resuming its original form. "Uh, what was that?"

"The link between the Shadow Realm and your world is weakened here," Morgana began explaining. "What you saw was what this room is back in your school. Because of the weakened link, shadows can't come in here and you'll occasional get glimpses like the one you saw earlier. Think of this as a pocket dimension of some sorts."

"Nice to know we don't have to worry about shadows all the time while we're here," Ryuji stated before relaxing himself. Ren on the other hand was confused as to why this was possible. Since he hardly entered palaces himself, the concept of safe rooms was something new to him.

'Wait, if this is a type of pocket dimension, does that mean I can summon portals here?" Ren thought to himself. Deciding to put his theory to the test, the boy began making a portal to his world. Unfortunately, doing so ended up giving him a massive migraine. "AGH!"

"Ren, you ok?" Ryuji asked, running to his friend's aid.

Ren gave him a smile. "Ugh, my head hurts. Looks like we can't leave the shadow realm if we enter a safe room." he should've expected that to be honest. The safe room technically was part of both dimensions and for some reason, Ren couldn't create portals to the dimension he was currently at, doing so temporarily diminishes his power.

Seeing the boy attempting to create a portal caused Morgana's eyes to widen, impressed by the boy's ability. "So that's how you came to the Shadow Realm. Interesting…you're more useful than I initially thought..."

"Uh, thanks?"

Tired of waiting, Ryuji walked towards the door, placing one of his ears against it. "Hey guys, I think the shadows are gone."

Not really trusting the boy's senses, Morgana decided to check himself. "Yep, I can't hear them anymore. C'mon, let's get moving."

Taking out their weapons, Ren and Ryuji followed the cat.

0000

Having left the safe room, the three adventurers didn't really have any more trouble making it to their destination. Doing so however ended up revealing a horrible sight. At the end of the dungeon were several teenagers on a volleyball court, many guards hitting them with the blunt ends of their spears. Thankfully they couldn't notice the trespassers for the three were a level above them, the volleyball court being a floor below them.

Ryuji could only look at the scene in horror. "Dude, what the actual fuck?"

"I know this is just an exaggerated version of what's happening, but either way, Kamoshida is one fucked up dude," Ren grimenced.

"The dude's got some major issues," Morgana agreed. "But that doesn't matter right now. Just do what you got to do so we can leave already."

"Oh, right." Making his way to one of the cells, Ryuji analyzed the boy in it, trying to put a name to his face.

"Recognize him?" Ren asked.

"Hm… yeah."

Moving on to the next cell, the two boys moved on to the next cell while Morgana assumed guard duty. Unlike the other cell, this one had a kid running on a treadmill.

"N-no more," the kid begged, but the treadmill didn't slow down, only speeding up to punish his weakness.

"Fucking son of a bitch," Ryuji growled, forming a fist. "...Alright, I memorized him. Let's move on."

Turning to the final cell, Ryuji almost threw up. Inside was another boy tied upside down, a cannon firing volleyballs at him. "Ok, seriously, this isn't training, none of this is!"

"Ryuji, calm down," Ren told him, placing a hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to take a deep breath in before exhaling.

"You're right. Let's just get this over with." Sending some time memorizing the face of the student, Ryuji then turned to Ren. "Think three witnesses is enough?"

Putting a hand to his chin, Ren nodded a second later. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good," Morgana sighed. "Now let's get out of here already."

0000

"Ah, it's about time I finally caught you brats," Shadow Kamoshida snarled. Though the three did their best to sneak back to the room they entered the castle from, it turns out that Kamoshida's Shadow happened to conveniently be at the front entrance, giving orders to an armored shadow. Compared to the ones Ren had encountered before, this one was golden.

"Crap, and we were doing so well," Ryuji moaned.

"You three have given me more trouble than you're worth," Kamoshida told them. "Invading MY castle, opposing the king himself, you three deserve nothing but death!"

Immediately, Morgana pulled out his sword as Ren summoned his Phantom Thief costume, the fatigue from before having faded a bit ago.

"Stay back Ryuji," Ren ordered. Not having to be told twice, the blonde backed up until he was a safe distance away from the incoming fight.

Kamoshida glared at them. "SEIZE THEM!"

Obeying the command thrown at it, the gold shadow blew up, three shadows emerging from its remains. The first two were simple Bicorn, something Morgan and Ren knew they could handle. The third one however caused Ren's eyes to widen, a bit of fear engulfing the boy. The owl looking humanoid was a shadow who went as Andras. The boy didn't really know much about it, only knowing it used ice magic and was about the same strength as Arsene was currently. Usually he would flee from any hoard with at least one Andras in them, for such hoards were enough to overwhelm him, but they were blocking the exit.

"Morgana, focus on the two Bicorns," Ren ordered. "I'll take on the Andras."

"You sure about that?" Morgana asked, causing Ren to nod. "Alright, come forth my other self! Garu!"

Popping out from behind the cat, the Persona fired a gust of wind at one of the Bicorns, gaining the attention of the other shadows. Andras began to charge up an attack of its own as the Bicorns began rushing at Morgana, only for Arsene to slash at the owl looking Persona.

"Your opponent's me," Ren said as it turned to him. Since he didn't know any of Andras's weaknesses, he decided to only use Arsene this fight as he was by far his strongest Persona. "Eiha!"

Smirking under his mask, Arsene shot a dark beam of energy at the Andras. Much to his surprise, it seemed the shadow resisted curse damage, for the attack hardly did anything.

"Crap, Arsene, cleave it!"

Rushing forwards, the Persona tried to claw at the Andras, but it managed to dodge at the last second, retaliating with a strong bufu. Thankfully, Arsene resisted the attack.

"Urgh, Arsene, dream needle!"

"..." Ren looked at his Persona, curious as to why he wasn't doing anything, only to notice he was encased in ice. Ren tried pulling out his dagger so he could at least do something, but he forgot that when a Persona was frozen, so was its user. As such, Ren was simply helpless.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

Meanwhile, Morgana was struggling with the two Bicorn. He has the strength to go head to head with one, but two? Not really.

Dodging a lunge attack from one of the Bicorn, Morgana tried summoning his Persona, only to be hit by the other one. Growling, the cat swung at the Bicorn with his sword, managing to cause it to stagger backwards. Seeing this as an opening, Morgana summoned his Persona.

"Dia!"

Zorro began waving his sword, surrounding his master with a healing aura, but the two Bicorn refused to to allow this to deter them. Using all their might, they rammed into the cat, knocking him unconscious. With him down, the two began focusing on Ren, who had just finished breaking out of the ice. Unfortunately, while he was still frozen, the Andras had been racking up damage against him, putting him at an even bigger disadvantage than he was at before.

Keeping his eye on the strongest shadow, Ren narrowly avoided one of the Bicorn and ran straight towards the Andras, dagger in hand. Before he could, the second Bicorn rammed him in the side, sending the Persona user flying. Trying to stand up, he was then hit by another bufu followed by a lunge from the Bicorn he had avoided earlier. Coughing up some blood, Ren collapsed, his body having taken too much punishment.

Witnessing the defeat of the Persona users, Kamoshida's shadow began to laugh. "HAHAHAHA! Now do you understand that you're up against? There's a reason I'm the king and not someone else. I'm simply unstoppable.

"Grr…" A combination of fear and anger taking over him, Ryuji pointed his gun at the shadow. "You're not going to get away with this!"

Hearing this, shadow Kamoshida gave the boy a mocking glance. "Oh, but I already have. Not only do I have the entire school wrapped around my finger, but I have most of Tokyo as well."

"What do you mean?" Ryuji asked, his finger edging closer to the trigger.

"You really think nobody knows about me? About what I've done? The principle knows, the parents know, and even the local cops know…"

Losing whatever confidence he had in himself, Ryuji's finger backed away from the trigger as he stared at Kamoshida's shadow in disbelief. "I-impossible! You're lying! If they really knew what you've been up to, then your ass would be in jail right now!"

"And why would they do that? Doing so would just make it so they miss out on obtaining some of the glory I have."

"You think you're helping them? You're slowly killing them God dammit!"

"Psh, how can you possibly understand? And even if you did, what can you possibly do to stop me? I busted your leg and even when you went crying about it, nothing happened to me. If I wanted to, I can do it again."

"..." Realizing what Kamoshida was saying was true, Ryuji dropped his gun as he went on his knees. He felt like giving up, he seemed to be fighting an unwinnable battle. He wanted to help, but what was he supposed to do? It's not like most of the school liked him anyways…

"You're really going to give up?" Ren weakly asked the boy, causing him to look at him. "After everything you've gone through, you're just going to let him walk all over you?"

"You heard what he said!" Ryuji shouted at him, tears coming out of his eyes. "What the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Keep fighting."

"What?"

"Keep fighting until it's truly over. The real reason he's able to get away with doing what he does is because no one has officially went against him. If you really want him to stop, then you have to stand up for yourself. Be the hero Kamoshida's victims need. Even one person can make a difference, but you won't be alone. If you choose to stand, I'll follow. So what's it going to be? Die here? Or will you rise to the challenge?"

"..." Mentally cursing himself for giving up so soon, Ryuji stood up and pointed his gun at Kamoshida's shadow. "You're right Ren. This asshole's already ruined one life, there's no fucking way I'm going to let him ruin another without a fight. Ya hear that Kamoshida? I going to fucking overthrow you!"

'You've made me wait quite a while.'

"Huh? Who's there?" Looking around, Ryuji tried finding the source of the strange voice he heard, only to find nothing.

'You seek power, correct?'

"Arg!" Holding his head in pain, Ryuji collapsed back on his knees, all while Ren smiled. He knew what was happening, for it was something he's experienced as well.

'Then let us form a pact. Since you're name has been disgraced already, why no hoist the flag and wreak havoc?' Now on the floor, Ryuji began rolling around in pain, still clutching his head as if it would blow up if he didn't. 'The 'other you' who exists within desires it thus...I am thou, thou art I...There is no turning back…The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!" A skull mask began forming on his face. When it finished, he yanked it off, causing a bright light to briefly surround the boy. When it dispersed, it was revealed Ryuji's cloths have changed. He was now sporting a black leather jacket, a pair of yellow gloves, and a skull mask. Behind him was a spiritual robotic pirate riding a small pirate ship.

Smiling, Ryuji stood right back up and pointed at the shadows. "Let's get them Captain Kidd. Zio!"

Nodding, the Persona fired a lightning bolt at one of the Bicorn, severely damaging it. The other shadows now distracted by the Persona, Ryuji used this time to toss Ren a tylenol tablet. Eating it, Ren stood back up and summoned Agathion.

"Agathion, dia!"

Gigging, Agathion's hands glew white as Morgana was surrounded by a healing aura. Regaining conscious, Morgana leaped up and summoned his Persona.

"Zorro, garu!"

Aiming at the Andras, Zorro tossed a blast of wind at it, slightly damaging it as Ryuji had Captain Kidd fire another Zio at the second Bicorn. Noticing how damaged the Bicorn were, Ren had a plan.

"Ryuji, handle the Bicorn. They're weak to electricity, so keep hitting them with zio. Morgana, you and I will take care of the Andras."

"Gotcha," Ryuji said before ordering his Persona to attack the Bicorn.

Rushing forwards, Morgana slashed at the Andras while Ren swapped his Persona back to Arsene.

"Dream needle!"

"As you wish." With a wave of his hand, Arsene fired multiple small needles at the owl looking shadow. Eyes widening, the Persona's eyes closed shortly after as it fell asleep.

"Karma at its finest," Ren smirked.

"The Bicorn are prone," Ryuji informed his leader.

Morgana smiled wickedly upon hearing this. "Well, looks like we can now perform an all out attack."

"All out attack?" Ryuji asked.

"Just follow me." With that, Morgana rushed forwards, weapon drawn, Ryuji and Ren following him. When they got close to the shadows, the three began to unleash all their power into one attack, slashing, hacking, and shooting at the shadows while their Personas assisted with some offensive attacks of their own.

With one final hit, the three finished their attack, the shadows exploding in defeat shortly after.

"We did it!" Ryuji cheered. Facing Kamoshida, the blonde stuck his tongue at him. "Well, what do you have to say?"

"AHAHAHAHA!" The shadow laughed. "You think that you can stop me just because you can fight now? You still forget that I have something you don't."

"Kamoshida~" The voice of a girl called out in a flirty tone. A second later, a familiar girl ran towards the man before hugging him.

Ryuji's jaw dropped, unable to understand what he was seeing. "Ann?!"

"I still have everyone's admiration while you two are scorned. This is a battle you can't win."

"That's where you're wrong," Ren declared. "You may have the advantage, but if you think we won't put up a fight, then you're sorely mistaken."

"Cute, but your words hold no truth." Snapping his fingers, Kamoshida called forth several armored shadows. "Now get out of my castle and never come back."

"Yikes, we better retreat for now," Morgana informed the group, knowing there were too many shadows for the three of them to handle themselves. Agreeing, the three began fleeing the castle, ready to call it a day.

0000

"Whew, that was close," Ryuji said as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. "But hey, now I got a Persona! How cool is that?!"

"Now you can officially join the fight," Ren said, putting his arm around his friend. "Now let's get out of here already."

"Ahem!" Both boys stopped what they were doing to look at the cat. "Remember our deal? I lead you to the dungeon and in return you listen to what I have to say."

"Right," Ryuji groaned before facing Morgana. "What do you want?"

"Simple really, I want you two to become Phantom Thieves."

"What?"

"I mentioned before that I was looking for something, and I won't be able to find it by myself. I need people to help me not get killed whenever I go into a palace. Oh, and this will be beneficial for the both of us, don't worry."

"Yeah, like how?"

"How about the chance at earning a lot of money?" Morgana asked. "Or a chance at finding rare items?"

"Eh, that all sounds cool and all, but I'm still not sure."

"Alright, how about having the ability to make Kamoshida confess to his crimes?"

Both Ren and Ryuji perked up in interest. "Go on…"

"At the top of each palace is the ruler's treasure," Morgana explained. "The treasure is the root of their corruption. If you manage to successfully steal it, then the person will have a severe mental breakdown. This can result in them trying to atone to their crimes or it can cause them to kill themselves."

"Woah, woah, I may hate Kamoshida, but killing him seems a bit to excessive," Ryuji admitted, not liking the idea.

"Well, it's not a guarantee...I think."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"Hm…mind giving us some time to think about it?" Ren asked.

Morgana shrugged in response. "Sure I guess. I'll come get you in a few days to hear your decision."

Ryuji gave him a confused glance. "How the hell are you even going to find us?"

"Heh, I have my ways. Well, I'm going to go now. Try not to lose any brain cells while I'm gone Ryuji."

"Hey!" The boy shouted, only for it to fall onto deaf ears as Morgana had already disappeared. "Stupid cat...whatever. Let's just go home already."

Nodding, Ren began creating a portal back to their world.

0000

"Hey man, thanks for everything," Ryuji said as he began eating a bowl of ramen. After having nearly died in the Shadow Realm, the two decided to celebrate by going to Ogikubo, a local ramen shop in Tokyo. "Your speech really saved my bacon back there,"

"No problem," Ren replied, eating as well. "Thanks for not giving up."

"After what Kamoshida has done to me personally, there's no way I'm giving up!" Ryuji boasted, only to sign a few seconds later. "...This place brings back so many memories."

Ren shot the boy a curious glance, causing him to continue what he was saying.

"Back in my Freshman year, I was a part of the track team. We used to come here to eat together after practice. That was back before Kamoshida was our coach."

"He coaches more than one sport?"

"Somehow he fucking does," Ryuji bitterly spat. "Immediately, he seemed to hate us. He made our lives freaking hell. He seemed to dislike me the most and after facing about a month of that shit, I swung at him. In return, he made it so I can never run again…"

Finished with his story, Ryuji began looking at his ramen. Sensing the glumness coming from his friend, Ren decided to cheer him up. "We'll make him pay for his sins, don't you worry."

Facing the young vigilante, Ryuji shot him a small smile. "Hell yeah we will. I won't rest until that son of a bitch is behind bars."

"Ditto…"