Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter 6
All together now.
With one final blast of an icicle shard through a false knight's skull, Neku slumps and grabbed onto the railing of the stairs to just prevent himself from falling, panting heavily. Maybe it was because of how long it had been since he had exerted himself to this degree of weariness or like Ren, he still hasn't fully adapted to his new powers, but these fights were starting to stretch him thinner and thinner. He looked at the bottom of these fancy stairs to see Kairi bring down the last knight of the previous party.
When her nodachi cleaved through the knight, she staggered forward and almost loses her footing and dropped her weapon, finally collapsing onto a knee. Her body is shaking and her pants were short, out of breath. Neku forces himself off the railing and walks/stumbles down the stairs to her as Kairi coughed.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked, patting her shoulder.
"I…I feel like I was fighting for hours…but it's only been a few minutes, right?" she asked, looking up at her fellow Persona user.
"Sure feels like it's been hours…", Neku sighed, helping the new girl to her feet, "Hell it could have been. This place mucks up your sense of time".
Kairi rolled her shoulders as her sword disappears from the floor, plucking off her mask to wipe the sweat from her forehead, prompting Neku to do the same, exhausted. Those knights were determined to have their heads, and even watching their comrades fall one by one and witnessing the overwhelming powers between the two didn't even faze them. Either they were that dedicated to their king or just that scared of him.
The boy helps Kairi settle against a wall for support, urging her to catch her breath first before they go look for the others. The worst part out of the fight was this worrisome thought that for all Neku knows they were just wasting their energy on fighting an endless horde of enemies. Granted they hadn't fought that many on the first day they came to this place, but today surely even that would worry Kamoshida and at least hurt his army's numbers. But if they are like the Noise from the UG, they could be unlimited.
The only worse thing about this is they never recover their strength from a fight, instead, they're more tired. Plus he could feel his hands shake after using so much of his powers against their enemies, something he NEVER had to worry about back in UG. And he didn't even have healing pins on his person either, which could have elevated some strain on his body. The girl leaned her back against the wall, panting before she runs a hand through her hair and then takes a breath.
"We should get going…if Rhyme and Beat are ambushed by those knights, they won't have a chance," she reminds, pushing herself off the wall. "The sooner we find them, the sooner we can find Sora and Riku".
It seemed to Neku that those two boys were the sole reason this girl is willing to push herself, even from just looking at her he could see she was far from ready to get back into the fight. Yet even still she makes her way to the stairs, eyes glowing with hope. But from personal experience alone, rushing into a fight without time to recover doesn't end well, so he catches her arm and stressed that she wasn't ready, and he wasn't going to try and keep three people safe alone. She tries to argue but using his famous "Don't talk to me" glare (dubbed by Eri) at least makes her pause long enough for him to press her against the stone railing of the stairs.
"Catch your breath and wait, Rhyme's smarter than you think, and Beat's a freaking rhino half the time. Between those two, I'd be more worried about us," he says, recalling the number of times he had been both impressed and terrified by those two's best traits.
Kairi looks at him before casting her head down and leans against the railing with a reluctant huff. Maybe she knew in her state even if she had to, going up against him wasn't the most sensible plan she could make up. Not that Neku would've wanted to test that out, if she was anything like Sora he knows any hope of beating her in a fight was as slim as half those dresses Eri made.
"…so, how do you know Sora and Riku?" he asked, rubbing his neck, figuring he may as well get to know this girl.
"…they're my best friends…we've known each other since we were kids," Kairi revealed, then giggled, "Wow, I make it sound like we're old saying that…". She faced Neku with the same glow in her eyes, explaining to the Persona user how she knew them, along with some stories about the two and the amount of trouble they got her in and out of. Yet even with that smile on her face, Neku couldn't ignore the underlying sadness in her tone and her eyes were marred by pain and guilt. Especially when she spoke about Sora, how both the guilt and joy in her eyes clash like two storms waging war with each other.
She rubbed her arm, explaining that at some point she got separated from them and has been spending what time she could with other friends of hers to find them, revealing they accidentally found a way to the Palace by pure chance. A noticeable theme that seems to be following Neku.
"How'd you get separated from the others? The knights?" he inquired.
"Yeah, we were ambushed by them. So I got my friends to hide and then made a run for it, taking those stupid knights with me up until I managed to get to the second floor. After that…my Persona came out and the next thing I knew…well you probably know what happened next".
Neku nodded, but then asked about her second state. Kairi shrugged and said when she first awakened her Persona, she felt invincible and a hundred times stronger but then it just fizzled out and she was back to this strange attire, but much weaker. In response, Neku tells her the exact thing that happened to Sora, that one moment he was in completely different attire and on a level of power nobody could compete with, and then the next thing they knew he was no stronger than the rest of them.
This info puzzled him, why was it only Sora and his people who have two forms and more power while the rest of them only have one? He knew this had to be linked to his and Riku's weaker strengths, compared to their power back in that city. Maybe this place was chaining them down, make them weaker here than in the real world. At least…that's what he thinks if those dreams are more real than he thinks.
"But how do you guys know about Sora and Riku?" Kairi asks, "Did you meet them here?".
"Yeah…I mean, kind of. See, we came here by accident, and Riku was following us. When we came here, we found Sora in a rough shape. But for myself, another guy and Sora got our Personas when were escaping, and so far, bar you, we're the only ones who got a Persona," Neku revealed, explaining bits and pieces on what happened after they escaped and why they came back here. "One of our friends wanted to come here, something about not being able to let Kamoshida off for what he's been doing".
"Who is Kamoshida? I keep hearing about him but nobody's told me anything," Kairi inquired.
"The king of this castle…here at least. In the real world? He's a pervy coach," Neku says bluntly.
Kairi cringed in disgust, sticking her tongue out in revulsion. But then as she is about to inquire more about this repulsive man, a door opens from above. They both looked up and when they see who exited the room, the two smiled.
The odds have begun to weigh in their favor at last.
*Foyer*
"Come on! We're almost out of here!" Morgana shouts as they climb the final flight of stairs out of the dungeon.
Ren lets Ryuji run past him first, allowing him to bring up the rear guard in case of an ambush. All the while desperately worrying about the rest of the party, not bumping into Riku and Sora along their rushed escape. During the chase, Morgana forced the group of three to use a different to the one they had already used, meaning adapting to an entirely new route and new dangers but worst of all, not reuniting with friends USING the same road.
A new plan was formed by himself mentally, deciding he'd get Ryuji to safety first and then come back to the castle with Morgana to find them, and hopefully, Neku would have rescued Rhyme by then.
But his thoughts were cut short when he turned to face the road ahead of him and sees the king of this castle march toward them with a group of knights. Quick as lightning, Ren immediately steps in front of Ryuji, dagger in hand while Morgana held his ground against the pervy teacher.
"You knaves again?" he questioned with a smug but easily detectable irritation in his voice, "To think you'd make the same mistake again…jeez, you are hopeless".
"That's quite the attitude you've got, your cowardness," mocks Ren, "Last time we saw each other, one of us was running for his life while wetting his pants. Who was that again?". But Ren's taunt, while it affected the king's ego, is ignored when Ryuji boldly stepped up, calling out the teacher. He bragged that he memorized the faces of every student he saw in the dungeons, and with that bit of information on the thieves' end, the blonde swore this would take down the teacher without a hitch.
"It is true it seems. How seldom the barking dog bites," mockingly bragged the king, "Just look at how far the star runner of the track team has fallen".
Ryuji snapped back, which incentivized Kamoshida to dish out the harsh reality of Ryuji's life. The "Track Traitor", as the former track team has dubbed the spiky blonde, who acted in violence destroyed the dreams of his fellow teammate's dreams. Smugly reminiscing on how the team must have suffered from his selfish act, their reputation dragged through the mud all because of Ryuji's temper. Ryuji physically flinched, looking away, prompting Ren to ask what this pervy king was talking about.
The king cruelly mocks Ryuji's lack of forthcoming, beguiling Ren into following him. He even mocked Ren for being such a blind follower, even with Ryuji not telling him why he and Kamoshida have such a hateful relationship.
"He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he carries on as carefree as ever!" reveals the teacher. Even as Ryuji weakly denies it, Kamoshida only bragged more, gleefully mocking Ren's poor choices. He followed a traitor to his death, blind as a fanatic and just as foolish. With a disgusted scoff, he orders his men to rid these pests from his sight, unable to bear their stench any longer. His knights dutifully step forth, but then Kamoshida calls for them to stop. "No, you've already failed me too many times. I'll let my Royal Guards handle these interlopers this time", Kamoshida commands.
He snapped his fingers and then appearing from violet swirling portals from the air, and outcomes two slender looking knights. Dressed in purple bodysuits with stripes of black, thin bendy arms with even more bendy finger/claws, jester shoes with tiny bells on their toe tips, necks wrapped in black chokers while wearing frilly purple and yellow jester hats with more tiny bells, eyes yellow light corrupted headlights while their faces were nothing more than voids of darkness.
They danced and juggled knives like jesters in a king's court, malicious in movement, and worst of all, they were not regular monsters. Not even Morgana has ever seen these creatures from all his time in this corrupted castle.
"Remove these rats from my sight," commanded the king.
The jester throws their daggers at Ren and Morgana with bullet speed, only thanks to Morgana using his Persona's wind power was he able to save the two from becoming pin cushions. Zorro appears above the cat and with a flurry of sword swipes, he creates a small vortex of wind that entraps the daggers and throws them up in the air to descend uselessly onto the ground. The jesters then rush the two, bypassing them like blurs, and sliding materialized more daggers from their hands, readying for a clean kill.
Ren and Morgana dash away from the two swinging daggers, narrowly missing the cold steel from severing the heads from their torsos. One jester chases Ren while another easily catches up to Morgana, swinging its dagger at the boy. In response, Ren slides his dagger from his sleeve and engages in a dual with the freak, steel singing in the air as they clashed while Ren continuously leaps backward and flipping around the attacks. Morgana fared much worse than the boy despite his more experienced record, for the jester's body was malleable, and extremely unpredictable movements made them too tricky for him.
His smaller body only saved him from being penetrated by those daggers and even with Zorro's powers, his wind abilities barely fazed these creatures and even with his speed, these freaks were equal with precision and superior in power. While in the air about to slash at the freak, the jester kicked Morgana with impossible speed and equally impossible strength right in his stomach. He wheezed in pain as he throws towards Kamoshida, who catches him with ease and slammed him onto the ground.
Ren's cheek is slash by a flying dagger, only just able to evade from having the dagger lodged into his eye socket. He backflips and pulls out his gun, firing several shots at the freak. The bullets forced the creature to slide and bend around the flying ammunition, dancing around them with such ease it was like they were moving at snails' pace. Ren calls for Arsène, and the Persona appeared behind its chosen partner. The Trickster removes his mask to use his partner, summoning a pillar of dark energy right beneath the jester.
The creature is engulfed in dark power, unable to dance around this surrounding attack. While stunned, Ren dashes forward, ready to plunge his dagger into the creature's heart. Only to be stopped by the other jester, who appeared from above and stomped on the boy's back and pinned him to the ground with a powerful thud that Ren swore he was hit by a jackhammer. Pinned to the ground by a single foot, Ren raised his head to see Kamoshida pinned Morgana down too.
"Ha! What a joke! I bet you idiots came here on a whim and ended up like this! Isn't that right?" interrogates the king, pressing his foot down on the cat.
Ryuji weakly denied it again, defeat in his eyes. The only response to such a reply Kamoshida gave was nothing less than a scathing insult, degrading Ryuji even further, even bringing up how ungrateful the boy was, and how he had the nerve to raise a hand against him. When he reminded Ryuji about his reaction to his kindness, the boy barked back with a fury, revealing that kindness was nothing less than more abuse from him, that the whole reason they suffered was that this monster of a man just didn't like their team.
"Your team were nothing but eyesores! The only one who needed to achieve anything was me!" scowls the king, "Your coach was hopeless too. If he hadn't opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with just breaking his star's leg".
Ryuji freezes in despair as the teacher continues, even wondering if he should just break his other leg and then pass it off as self-defense. No matter what happened to Ryuji, no matter what this man will do, he'll get away with it. He had taken everything he had worked so much for in this school, only to lose it all to this man because he just didn't like them, that all that ever mattered was his glory and achievement. He can't even run anymore, and the whole team, his former friends, were gone because of what Kamoshida did.
"…screw him…".
Ryuji's eyes went straight to Ren, who was sporting a smirk when Kamoshida looked at him. "W-What did you say?" growled the king.
"You really are one sore loser…you destroyed an entire track team, ruined somebody's dreams, and got a coach fired…because you didn't like them?" Ren scoffed with that wild smirk, "Sorry, but who's the real eyesore here? The teenager who you knew can't stand up against you because some oversized potato man has your back? Or the insecure teacher who felt so threatened by a track team he had to destroy them?".
"You little…" snarls Kamoshida, but Ren turned to Ryuji, ignoring the false king.
"You came back here because you knew those students are going through the same abuse you went through, you threw your life on the line for them! Stop letting this worthless excuse of a human walk all over you! Stand up for yourself for once!" roars the Trickster.
Shaking, trembling at the words that struck a chord within his heart, Ryuji looked at the ground. Did he come back here because he just couldn't shake that terrible feeling that maybe, just maybe, those volleyball students were enduring a hell as bad as he did once? Were their futures on the line like his, or were they used leverage too?
For the first time since everything had been taken away from him…Ryuji feels strength within him to…rebel.
"You're right…" he agreed, "Everything important to me was taken away by him…and I'll never get 'em back!".
"Oh knock it off! Just stand there and watch me deal with this trash!" orders Kamoshida.
"No…that's exactly what you are!" Ryuji shouts, standing on his two feet, "All you ever do is think of ways to use people, you're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!". With bared teeth and rage, all the anger that had been bottled up for the sake of keeping things going, things that were the bare minimum of his goals, finally exploded when that filthy teacher looked at him with that smug look.
"Stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!" bellowed the rebel.
"You made me wait quite a while".
As his eyes take on the same yellow hue, Ryuji gasps in pain, clutching his head. Slowly he descends to his knees, bending until his forehead touched the ground. He gasped in pain, growling and hissing like his skull was about to burst.
"You seek power, correct? Then let us form a contract. Since your name is already disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc?".
Ryuji begins to thrash around the ground, growling and snarling in pain as the voice deep within him still fights for him, urging him to finally let the other him free.
"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!".
With one final agonized cry, Ryuji raises his face to let those who once deemed him worthless bear witness to another terrifying sight. Attached to his face much like his friends, is a mask. But only for a moment, for without so much as a second thought he rips off the mask. He screams as blood bursts forth from his face, and a burst of blue fiery power rockets from beneath him. This power forces the jesters back to protect their king while Ren and Morgana watch in awe.
"About time, Ryuji," grunts Ren as he gets to his feet. His words caught Kamoshida's attention, and in response, the Trickster flashes his mischievous grin at the king while pointing at Ryuji. "You're in for a bad time".
The flames die out, revealing the newest Persona user, sporting a malicious and even more wild grin with a shark set of teeth. The new Persona user's outfit consists of a matching black jacket with elbow pads and what appears to be a metal vertebral column attached to its back, pants with knee pads and a double-sided holster belt with ammo on each side, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves with metal knuckle protectors and a skull mask.
Floating behind him is the legendary pirate, Captain Kidd.
Looking at himself in this new form, Ryuji's shark-like grin turned smug and even cocky, boasting on this sensation of power coursing through him. When his malicious-looking eyes catch Kamoshida's jesters, now standing in front of their king, he cracks his knuckles.
"Oi, Ren…leave these to me…" he requested, "Rest up".
With a roll of his eyes, Ren stuffs his hands into his pockets and backs out, trusting his newest partner to deal with the rabble. "Let's go make some waves, Captain Kidd!" commands Ryuji, calling a steel pipe for his weapon.
The jesters charged at him while Ryuji runs head-on without any regard for his well-being, yelling. The daggers flying toward him were evaded by him seemingly phasing through them, but truthfully he was moving faster than even the bullet speed of the sharp weapons. He immediately reached one jester while jumping, grabbing the pipe with both hands, and with all his hate for Kamoshida in his arms, he swings the pipe directly into the jester's left side of its head.
No doubt if those creatures had bones Ryuji's attack probably would have smashed them to dust and dare the others to say he could have decapitated the head entirely were it not for the malleable body. But he did strike hard enough to one-shot the monster, demolishing its form as he falls through its dark misty remnants. He spins on his heels to see the next jester throwing more daggers at him, further than he could catch and react in time.
He spins the pipe in hand with a wild grin, and as the daggers close in on him, Ryuji grabbed the pipe and swung it like a baseball bat, striking the daggers and returning them to their senders. The daggers fly off course from hitting the jester, but Ryuji calls for his Persona as the blades flew overhead, and then with a roar, Captain Kidd backflips with his boat by Ryuji's body movement. A small but lethal bolt of lightning struck down from above the jester, striking it with thousands of bolts.
Its body twitches and falls backward, fading away into the darkness.
The punk turns on the knights charging at him, likely to either score some brownie points from their king or to be rid of another potential threat to themselves. More for Ryuji, who rushes at them with another roar. His pipe smashes through the helmets like they were made of paper mâché, kicking them aside with incredible strength and using Captain Kidd's lightning to hold back a few of them long enough for the pirate looking teenager to bring down those up and close, he had more control over this fight than ever.
As he spins around to see another knight about to lop his head off, a gunshot goes off, and down goes the knight. Ren flips over the knight and takes another shot at the three before the pirate, while Morgana lashes out with his sword and Zorro's wind. While the other users strike down the horde of knights, Ryuji turns his wild eyes back to the man who invertedly gave him this will of rebellion against him, backing away in fear.
He grits his teeth and rushes for him, payback was within reach…
Except as he nearly reaches Kamoshida, two knights suddenly convulse and twitch, dark mist seeping from their armor and encasing them in darkness. This warrants the king's attention, looking at his knights slowly taking the form of something different. Slowly the dark twists and bends their forms into something far more monstrous and evil, turning them into the same dark knight's Sora and Riku had fought previously.
They stood tall against Ryuji, staring down at him with malice in their eyes as more knights began to spawn behind the king, ready to ambush the king's enemies. Kamoshida smirked at the new legions of evil and commanded them to bring him the head of the pirate with all the eagerness in his voice. The knights fly towards Ryuji, swords raised high for his neck. But when they bring down their steel, a loud clang rings out along with a powerful gust of wind blowing throughout the area.
"Sorry for the delay…" Riku growls as he holds back the two swords.
In his hands is a beautiful long sword made of ebony, the blade rivaled him in height with the hilt taking the form of a demon's blue wings, the handle had a single guard around his knuckles and a chain hanging from the pommel in the shape of a knight's helm. With ease, Riku pushed the fallen knights away from himself and Ryuji, spins the sword in hand, and aimed it at Kamoshida's knights with a curt but evil smirk.
"Loyal knights huh? Willing do whatever it takes to keep this loser of a king safe? Commendable…but ultimately nothing more than loyal dogs who whimper if you so much as have a tantrum," he mocks as he reached for his mask, "Let me show you posers, what a REAL knight looks like!".
"We are the blade of the true king, slayers of his enemies and defender of his people…cut down his foes with me! Odin!".
Ripping off his mask, Riku's body is enshrouded in darkness as a demonic presence forms above him, piercing red eyes beyond the veil. A form is created above, a tall humanoid knight with black and violet armor, a tattered cloak while in his hands is a beautiful and demonic scimitar and a shield, helmet almost the same as Riku's second state, but longer horns and another set just two inches above. Odin raises his sword at the false knights while Riku's grin turns sinister, letting his enemies know their lives were about to reach a very bloody end.
Riku charges towards the two knights with Odin as his back, swinging his newly-obtained sword at the heartless. They raised their swords in feeble attempts to hold back Riku's power, but their pathetic steel turned brittle under the weight of his dark power, shattering upon connecting with Riku's steel. The dark blade cleaved them in half with barely any restraint on his end, and even worse was when he swung, the sheer might of his attack sends a wave of tremors across the ground, striking the other knights and obliterating them into nothing.
"Holy shit…" Ryuji gasped in awe, watching Riku turning into a human blender on Kamoshida's hordes of shadows and heartless. The silver-haired warrior finishes the last of Kamoshida's guards just as Ren puts another bullet in the stragglers and Morgana buzz-sawing his way through the rest, just in time for Sora and the other guardians to gather up with the group. Riku stands beside a panting and weary-stricken Ryuji, glaring at Kamoshida.
He growls at the king with a threat and promise, stating that whatever opportunity he had to be forgiven had flown out the window. However, even with five Persona users and even possibly more with Roxas and company, the king smugly demised his threats like he always had. He cockily reminds the teenagers that this was still his castle, and to emphasize that, he simply gestures to his left and walking in is that girl Ren had bumped into yesterday.
Wearing a skimpy purple bikini with purple cat ears, to the disgust of the entire group. Minus Morgana, who praised the beauty of the girl. And he got a proper punch to the skull by Riku, calling him a pervert.
The girl, as Ryuji revealed to be "Takamaki", seemingly ignores the gang and just raises her chin for Kamoshida to stroke, almost like a pet yearning for her master, and he leers into her eyes. Disgusted, Ryuji demands he leave her be, only for the pervy man to rebuttal that once again he fails to understand. In his castle, everyone wants to be loved by him. Minus the ruffians, however, he was eyeing Xion and Naminé, forcing the two to back away in disgust.
Sora and Riku however called their weapons and Personas once again, threatening the man. As Ryuji shouts for Takamaki to talk, or say something, Morgana points out assuredly that the girl before them was not the real one. That much like the slaves they saw down in the dungeon, she's nothing more than cognition of what Kamoshida created, and saying that Ren remembers her face when she got into the car with that creep. There was no chance that girl would dress like that, let alone LET that monster so much as touch her.
"Jealous? Like low-life punks have any chance with a girl like her," he mocked.
"Least our boys are smart enough to wear pants! You creepy old man!" Xion yelled back, "Plus, they are WAY cuter than you!".
Kamoshida laughed at the girl, praising her spunk and promising to add her to his harem, making the boys snarl in rage with Roxas swearing to do something extremely inhumane to his genitals with a wooden spoon. His majesty calls for more of his knights to finally do away with the gang, which Sora and Riku already ready themselves to eviscerate them, but then Ryuji collapsed to his knee and almost fall entirely.
Much like the others who first awaken their Personas, even someone as stubborn as Ryuji couldn't handle their first breakthrough. Ventus and Roxas instantly helped him stand and dragged him back from being harmed in the skirmish. Naminé turned down the corridor that the original group entered and sees more knights and heartless spawning, trapping them while even at the entrance of the dungeon was being populated by the slaves to the king.
"We're surrounded!" the cat squeaks, "We should've run when we had the chance!".
Before Kamoshida could give the orders to do away with the thieves, from above the party could hear tremors and shakes within the ceiling. The shakes were intense it sent dust and even created cracks within the ceiling, surprising the others. Then an explosion bursts from the ceiling and descending from above are Neku and Kairi. They dove to the ground with the player firing a barrage of Psych energy while Kairi swings her nodachi blade, splitting the knights below into pieces.
Some of the knights ran back and raised their shields to protect Kamoshida from their attacks, letting their comrades perish under the combined assault from the player and samurai. They land in front of the others, weapons raised, and eyes set on the pervy king. Enraged, Kamoshida questions furiously why there are so many intruders in his castle and even asked how many of them have "ghost powers".
"Storytime for later, pervy teach, but we're leaving your castle!" Neku promises, turning to their exit path and shouts: "BEAT! CLEAR A PATH!".
Behind the knights, charging towards them with the speed of a jet and all the power of a speeding train, Beat blasts through all the knights like he was going supersonic speed. His body was surrounded by blue and negative energy as the knights disintegrated into nothing, the ground being ripped open and even the force from his blast nearly knocked Riku and Sora off their feet. The guards that tried to cut off the thieves' escape were destroyed, Beat then skidding to a halt right in front of the two interveners.
Beneath his feet is a skateboard, he stepped on one end of it and catches it, facing Kamoshida's horrified face. "What up? You look like ya saw a ghost!" taunted the blonde, sporting a sharkish grin like Ryuji. Not that anybody could blame Kamoshida's look, because standing before the king is yet ANOTHER one of those Persona users, and worst of it was another punk who had it out for him.
Wearing a grey tank top with a skull with blazing fire for eyes and bloody teeth while carrying a knife within its mouth, baggy pants with thin red belts crisscrossing like an x, small skulls embedded on the red belts with a large skull as the buckle. Black boots with literal chains around them, red hot flames painted on the toe tips, his arms were wrapped in what looked like gladiator armor, along with the knuckles having the letters spelling out "death".
On his back were reaper wings, closed for convenience, on his head looked like a centurion helmet made of grey steel with a red mohawk plume, the helmet giving him eye slits while protecting his nose.
"Yo, this Persona shit does the body some pretty dope things! Been shredding your goons like they ain't nothing!" Beat says, cracking his knuckles, "But for real, you probably had enough of us showing ya up, so as Phone says, we're gonna bounce!".
"And what the hell makes you think ANY of you are leaving!?" roars Kamoshida.
"Cause me and my partner say so!" Beat responds, pulling his mask off and revealing his other self, "Ain't that right? Spartacus!".
An explosion of power echoed behind Beat, showing off a giant among the spectators, a gladiator. Decked out in gladiator armor with twin gladius blades, a helmet just like the beat but only a skull for the head with roaring red flames for eyes. Spartacus bellows in power, terrifying the knights with feeble wills and even feebler knees, not even Kamoshida's cognition of Takamaki could help but whimper in terror. Beat snapped his head to others, shouting to them to get going before the bucket heads grow a pair.
Before Sora, or anyone could say anything, his hand was grabbed by Kairi, who dragged him with her to the exit. Quickly, everyone else follows suit, Ventus and co questioning practically everything that's happening, everyone entering the corridor. "WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS WAITING FOR! AFTER THEM! NO ONE LEAVES THIS CASTLE!" roars Kamoshida. Broken out of their terror, the knights chase after the thieves just as Beat shuts the door behind them.
"Gotta bounce faster people! That door ain't gonna keep them out forever!" the gladiator yelled as Riku and Neku helped the non-Persona users.
"What in the heck did you two get us into?" Roxas asked as he helps Xion up the bookshelf.
"A whole new definition of trouble buddy! More on that later when we're not being hounded by Kamoshida!", Riku replied.
Soon enough everyone bar Neku and Beat leave the room, the two former players using only a table and placing two tall torches in between the two ornate door handles, and after one more glance at the walls and every piece of furniture in the room, one shared smirk, they make their escape.
Outside the castle itself, the team takes a few minutes to catch their breaths, more so Ryuji and soon Beat, wiping the sweat off his head with difficultly. Ryuji comments that their escape kinda went a lot better than he had hoped, though that was probably in regarding the fact nobody had been executed or worse. It was here he suddenly realized he had the same set of clothing as the other Persona users, and even commented he looked a lot better than Ren.
"…Ryuji, you do remember I have a gun, right?" Ren comments dryly, "Mock my fashion sense at your own risk".
"Okay, seriously! What the heck is going on here?" Roxas asked exasperatedly, "That pervy king, Personas, fashion crisis, cognitions?".
"Quiet!", Morgana stressed, "One loudmouth is bad enough, we nearly got caught because of him, I don't want another game of cops and robbers!".
"You were screaming too, you little-
"ENOUGH already!" Riku groaned, "I'm way too drained for this…can't we just be thankful we're out?".
"Everyone, be quiet!", Naminé whisper yelled.
They could hear some knights complaining about their disappearance from the main hall, but also they could hear collision, door bashing to be more accurate. Naminé points out it'd only be a matter of time before they find out how they escape and if they could summon unique heartless (she used the term monster) to slither through, then they could be overwhelmed by numbers soon. That was a shared concern amongst the group but Beat and Neku shared a knowing grin.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Neku says with a fold of his arms.
No sooner did he say this, a loud explosion shakes the area, a plume of fire and smoke burst through the ventilation shaft they used to escape. They could hear Kamoshida's scream of terror and rage mixed into one yell, along with likely the sounds of their enemies perishing from the fires. The gang looked at the trio of troublemakers, and then see Neku and Beat carrying empty cans of spray paint.
"What in the world did you do?" Riku asked.
"Oh simple, spray paint is super flammable, and here in this world after Morgana explained how model guns could work, we figured if the enemy thinks this was explosive we could turn a room into a dead zone," Neku explains, "So we sprayed everything in that room, and then as soon as those idiots bashed down the door, boom goes the room, the knights and maybe Kamoshida".
"Phones and Kairi were the ones who stayed up while me and Rhyme got to work! She knew those losers wouldn't let us go even if we scared the shit outta their king!", Beat explained, "Ha! Rhyme really put that big brain of her to use!".
"That sounds like a backhanded comment".
Most eyes fell to the direction of the voice and sure enough, Rhyme crossed over the draw bridge to the team, dressed in her Persona uniform. She wears a few pieces of Chinese armor that is predominantly colored black and green, arm braces, and shoulder pads that were smaller than her head. Underneath this armor, she wears a long, grey, martial arts shirt and slightly darker grey pants. She wears black shoes and knee-high, white socks and a shirt that has green lining and is kept shut with a green sash.
Her mask somewhat shares a semblance to Sora's, but while his looks more like a western dragon, hers is Chinese. Green scale colored that covers her forehead and uses the dragon's eye sockets for her own, it has two horns curved backward.
In her hands looks to be a feathered war fan, handle green with the Kanji translating to "War". She fans herself with a look of knowing and confidence as her friends, now stretching into a larger group, watch in bafflement. "I knew you'd all meet up sooner or later if we were going to use the same entrance as the escape point, and if we wanted to ensure a clean getaway, myself and Beat armed the trap room and awaited for Kairi and Neku to do the rescuing".
"Whoa…you planned everything out," Ryuji praised, gobsmacked.
"You have a Persona too?" Sora asked.
"Yup, and with our combined brilliance, we will lead us to victory, isn't that right?" asked the girl, looking behind her while taking off her mask, "Hua Mulan?".
Appearing in a greenish puff of smoke, a woman dressed in full Chinese green amour while riding a green dragon, hair long and silky black while her lower face is covered in armor, a spear in her arms as she gracefully stands atop the dragon.
"Okay, now I've more questions…" Roxas grumbles while Rhyme dismisses her Persona.
"Hold on a second, what exactly are Personas? Is that why you all look so different?" Naminé asked.
"Pretty much," Morgana nodded, "When a Persona user opposes a Palace Ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It helps prevent them from being affected by the distortions".
When Ryuji touched his mask, he comments on it feeling like a skull, which Morgana explains that their appearance reflects their inner self, the rebel (in Ren, Ryuji, and his case) that slumbers within them. Riku tiredly asked if that made any sense to Ryuji, who replied with an equally tired "no". Neku groaned he's better off just going along with whatever happens at this point, acceptance of what happens before your eyes mean fewer headaches. But then Ryuji panics, paling even.
He says that while they're safe from the Kamoshida here, in school, or the real world, the other one was still a problem, especially if he knows what happened here. But Sora points out before Morgana, that if Kamoshida didn't remember anything from their first time here, why would he suddenly remember the events today? Reminding everyone, or informing the newcomers, of everything that happened, their first time seeing Personas, trashing his legion of knights, and worst of all, be the first to rebel against him in his castle, but he didn't.
"How does that work?" Ryuji asked, confused.
"A shadow, the Kamoshida here, is a true self that is suppressed, a side of one's personality that they don't want to see," Morgana explained.
"So even if he's like a big jerk in the real world…even he doesn't want to accept he's an even worse jerk here?" Xion asked while tilting her head in confusion, "But if he's as bad as Ryuji says, how come he wouldn't want to accept this personality as his true self?".
"Simple, he can get away with all this because he rules this place. Imagine if he did it all in the real world. No matter how big of a celebrity he is, there's no way in hell anyone would turn a blind eye to this," Neku answers.
"So we're in the clear," Rhyme nods, "If he won't remember us in the real world, we don't have to worry about the consequences of today's actions. And just as well too".
"Yeah! Now, all we gotta do is-
"Hold on a second!" Morgana squeaked, "I guided you guys as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me!". He then folds his arms with a cat-like smirk saying: "That's why I was being super nice and teaching you idiots".
"…anyone else feel like kicking him and see how far he goes?" Beat asked with a crack of his knuckles.
"Excuse me, Morgana? Idiots?" Rhyme asked with a narrow gaze and even sharper eyes.
Whether out of arrogance or fear, Morgana refused to comment on Rhyme's question, reminding the boys he agreed to help he was doing his investigation. That he came here to erase the distortion from his body and regain his real form. Then he started to go on about something called "Mementos", to which Ryuji stops him, asking him about what he was going on about…and even added nobody said anything about helping him out.
When the cat questioned the blonde, and the others in general, that they weren't going to repay him for all the help and hospitality he showed them, Roxas points out that he didn't do jack for him or his team, Rhyme adding she was dragged along without anybody knowing and finally Neku reminds him he referred to the team as "idiots". He looks to Ren for aid, even asking if he was gonna bail out on him while he was part of his master plan.
"You…never mentioned any plan to us…or me," Ren says.
"Is it because I'm not human? Are you looking down on me because I'm a cat!?" Morgana accused.
"Don't bring…wait, didn't you insist you're a human?" Neku asked.
But as Morgana goes on, Xion ran past him and catches a nearly collapsing Kairi into her arms, nearly toppling down with her. Rhyme herself looks close to fainting, held up by Naminé while Riku, Ryuji, and Beat were being tended by the others.
"Damn it, looks like you guys have had your fill of Persona using for the day," Ren says, helping Ryuji. He turned back to Morgana and says: "I'm sorry, I'll repay you another time. But right now, these guys need to get out of here!".
"Good idea, thanks for the help cat!", Neku says, carrying Beat out of the bizarre world with the others, everyone who wasn't nearly unconscious giving him their thanks. However before Sora moved, Xion lifted Kairi and dropped her into his arms, making him carry her like a bride. She gives him the most innocent smile and coos the two, saying Kairi will be swooned by this act, and even winked at Sora before chasing the others.
He stammers and blushes while the others go ahead, then slumped. Sora looks down at Kairi's sleeping form, taking in her face beyond the mask. Slowly a wonderful and joyous smile appears on his face, the weight of her body in his arms felt so natural and wonderful, her warmth spreading to him. He lifted her slightly just so she was comfortable, gave Morgana one final grin before sprinting after the others.
"H-HEY! WE'RE NOT…GAGAAHHHHH!" fumes the cat, hopping up and down.
*Real World*
Panting and all clustered in a narrow alleyway, the large group of teens takes in their surroundings before the previous Palace spelunkers sigh in relief.
"Looks like we made it back safely," Riku says, still drained and leaning against the wall. Everyone makes a confirmation or nods in response to his statement, while Sora holds Kairi still in his arms. No longer in her Persona clothing, her outfit is a unique hooded pink-and-black dress, with two small black cat ears. There are black ruffles on one side of her skirt and plaid on the other. She wears thick belted black boots. She wears thin white bracelets on her left wrist and a thick wristband on her right wrist.
"Where are we now?" Ventus asked, looking around this new world. His question gets the residents of Shibuya's attention, looking at him oddly before Naminé clears her throat. She assured them they were still a little confused as to where they came to, saying they weren't in Shibuya when they entered the Palace. Ryuji asked where exactly they came from, and Naminé confidently says they mostly come from Shinjuku.
"Oh, so you're transfer students too?" Ren asks.
"Umm…I think so? We're supposed to be relocating somewhere, but it wasn't confirmed to be Shibuya," Naminé explains, rubbing her head, "Our first day here has certainly been an adventure".
"I'm just glad we're safe now…" Neku sighed, "Least for now anyway".
Sora hummed in agreement, but then he hears a light groan from below and sees Kairi stir slightly in his arms. He whispered her name and gently settles himself and her down on the ground, letting her sit down and rubbed her head with her hand. She hissed in pain, probably going through what he went through when he first awakened his Persona. She shook her head with a low groan of pain, her eyes slowly open while she is assisted in standing up, looking around her new surroundings.
A quiet "where" escapes her lips before she sees the others watching her with worry, then turned to Sora, her eyes widen slightly when they lock onto him. Even the boy who had disappeared before her eyes couldn't even move, he was so still like herself, he was still unable to believe that for once divine forces were not going to trick them, that after a year of separation this little reprieve of tragedy would reunite them at last.
Lowly and softly Kairi whispers his name as Sora makes one small, but genuine smile appears on his face. There it is, that same goofy joyous smile that warmed her heart whenever she was on the receiving end of it. No an illusion, not a dream within a dream, not even a hallucination.
Sora…is right here…
Tears run down her cheeks before she tackles him into the tightest hug her arms could do, burying her face into his chest while he holds her as close to himself, face buried into her neck and hair, embracing her as if for dear life.
Watching the two, Ren and Neku couldn't even joke or comment. Bizarre as it is, there was something pure about this reunion, something words couldn't describe. The player keeps his mouth shut, respectfully watching these two hold each other while Ren could see a powerful bond between them, stronger than anything his young life had ever seen. A close…confidant between the two.
"I found you…" she whimpers through a smile and closed tearing eyes.
"I knew…I knew you would," replied the boy who gave up so much for her.
Realizing they had an audience, and one Xion looking ready to squeal in delight, bouncing on the balls of her heels, they break apart with stained cheeks from tears and red, Kairi ducking her head to hide.
"…they uh, a thing or…?" Ryuji asked, gesturing with a finger while looking at Riku.
"Dense as rocks? Yeah," sighed the master.
They both glared at him but it's short-lived when Ryuji yawned, stating he was utterly drained from today. Beat concurred with him, letting out a jaw-cracking yawn while Riku rolls his shoulder, sighing. Kairi nodded, moaning that she could sleep for a week and still be drowsy. However despite the chaos today had brought, Ryuji boasts that he still remembers the faces of all the tortured students in Kamoshida's castle, and once they convince them to fess up to the abuse, Kamoshida will have nowhere to hide.
And he sheepishly asked if the others would help.
"Haven't we done enough for you?" Neku asked with a raised brow, "I mean, after everything that's happened today, think you'll be in debt to us for life by this point".
Ryuji groaned in response, but Ren chuckled. Kindly he offers his help, seeing as Ryuji was so dedicated to getting some justice for himself and his former track team. Like clockwork, Riku and Sora joined in, and one by one everyone agreed that with this bit of information in their pockets, the possibility of taking down Kamoshida has greatly risen.
But then Ryuji looks at Ren, and a strange look of guilt comes on his face. He laments that any attempts of Ren to try and lay low are no longer an option. He had been completely pegged as a criminal, and the whole school knows it by now. This raises some brows from Sora's party, especially Xion who was now looking at Ren with suspicious eyes…if you count cartoonishly staring at him suspiciously.
Rhyme sighed and deduced it was likely Kamoshida who dropped that info bomb on the school, be it out of sheer malice or because he just decided Ren was the perfect target for passive abuse. Naminé sadly concurred with the girl's theory, stating that only a teacher could have access to such power.
"It's like that asshole just destroys anything he doesn't like. Students, clubs, social groups, anything that ticks him off is gone," Neku growled, "Ask anyone and they'll tell you it's some other reasons, but it always points back to that ass hat".
"And with Ryuji's history with him being an example, nobody will take anyone seriously, right?" Riku asked.
"Pretty much…" Ryuji huffed.
"Then if what Morgana said back in his Palace is true about the torture happening there, then chances are that physical abuse is happening behind closed doors," Ren hypothesized, "All the more of a reason to take him down. With all of us, evidence and numbers, we could pull it off".
"So we're part of this too, huh?" Roxas asked, "We've barely met and suddenly we're part of this…what, superhero club?".
"SUPERHERO CLUB! ASSEMBLE!", cheers Xion, fist-pumping into the sky.
"…superhero club, assemble," squeaked Rhyme, the childish vibe influencing her greatly.
"I just had to ask…".
Then there is a collection of growls emitting from the teens, all of them clutching their stomachs with groans. Realizing nobody had eaten in quite a long period, and Ryuji saying it'd be weird for everyone to split so suddenly, he suggested they all grab a bite to eat. Neku then counted everyone and how costly the food would be…but Ren confidently assures them all he's got everyone covered. This was also a great opportunity for the team to bring Roxas and company up to speed on the situation, along with Rhyme adding she may have another ace up the sleeve and of course, Xion proclaiming they'll have ramen to eat.
That last part was probably the reason they all agreed to hang out…
*Restaurant*
"WHAT!?".
"Damn it, Ryuji, lower your voice!" Neku growls, glaring at him for what could be the eleventh time.
"Dude, you guys heard that right!? How much shitter can that asshole get?" Ryuji says.
"I think the only thing we all heard is you…" Naminé sighed as she eats a piece of meat, holding back a squeal of delight from the delicious flavor.
The restaurant in question was by no means a luxurious five-star dining area for sure, but the plus side was it very spacious for the teens to gather around and eat together. Of course, when the bill came (at Riku's request) they were shocked by the cost and some readied to pay their half, but Ren merely handed the money over without so much as a fuss, assuring everyone he was good for it. Plus he suggested it say thanks for welcoming him into a group of new friends.
"I'm with Ryuji though…that sucks, Ren," Ventus says with sympathy, "So that jerk got drunk, hurt himself, and just decided he'd sue you?".
"And that woman just went along with him? How low can ya go?" Beat agrees.
"I don't hold any grudge against that woman, she was in a way, as much of a victim as I was," Ren defends softly, "I mean at least she wasn't a victim of something worse than this".
"You are way more forgiving than I gave you credit for…" Riku adds, slurping up some noodles.
"Is that why you had to leave your hometown and come here?" Kairi asked, adding some salt to hers.
"Unfortunately yes. Shujin was the only place that'd take someone like me…but it's not…terrible all the time…I mean, I've only had two days to compare my old school life too so…" Ren chuckles.
"Bet'cha your old school didn't have other worlds and superpowers," Beat laughed.
"Oh no, none of that. Just the occasional alien teachers, pervs on both gender sides, and a sensei who looks like she's a schoolgirl but is as old as your mother".
There is shared laughter between the gang, a low but quiet and friendly atmosphere settles. The Trickster listens and eats, hearing everyone talking away and catching up, feeling a genuine sense of peace and joy for the first time since this sentence started. Welcoming him into a place where his heart needed, a sanctuary from the reality of his sad state of social positioning. He looked to Sora and Neku, both of them chatting between Naminé and Ventus and a sense of gratitude filled his heart.
Those two don't know anything about him, yet Sora welcomed him into his circle of friends as if they had been buddies for years that sadly lost contact and Neku openly disregards his criminal status and accepts him for Ren Amamiya, not that criminal punk the whole world labeled. Even the ones who he had just met welcomed him in, the girls were extremely kind to him, forthcoming and even sympathetic to his current status, Rhyme offering advice and the twin boys even teased his status. He can't even believe it himself when he laughed at their ridiculous stories about his crime.
"Huh…we might be more alike than I thought…" Ryuji comments.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked.
"I mean, it's kinda like how we're treated like pains in the asses by people around us like we don't belong," he explained, "I did something stupid in school before too…".
He is silent for a moment before he finishes his meal and then comments on Ren's place of residence. That makes Neku and the Bito siblings curse too, realizing their trains would be stopping in an hour or so, and that they should get going before they end up walking all the way home. But before anyone could leave, Riku asked the team if they could exchange numbers and contact details. He stresses that if they were going to work together and go against that perv, they needed to be in contact with each other.
Kairi teases and says it's Riku's way of trying to still be the "cool but standoffish guy" while being sweet and wanting more friends. Riku threatens to dump Kairi's ramen on her head if she keeps it up.
"Sure, not a bad idea. Lord knows if we need something to do, we can rely on each other to entertain ourselves," Neku says, plucking his phone out. Unfortunately, Kairi's group doesn't have phones but Sora made it a point to give the contact details to them once they get phones. Ryuji then says tomorrow is the volleyball rally, something, of course, Kamoshida recommended. For hype or personal self-glory, no one knows. But Neku points out a golden opportunity for them to find the students who were abused since there wouldn't be any classes that day.
"Man this is gonna be tricky…Ryuji may have them all memorized but how are we gonna help?" Sora says with a frown, "Me and Riku didn't see anybody".
"Well we won't have to worry about that," Rhyme assured, pulling the book out from her bag and showing the name. She shows Ryuji a few pictures and he was able to recognize all of them. "Perfect! I'll take a picture of these students and send them into the group chat, this way everyone will have a photo to track them down".
"And with Roxas and the others being newbies, Kamoshida won't notice you guys," Neku added.
"So we have the victims' identities, five new students that Kamoshida knows nothing about, and a whole day to get this done. I think we can pull this off," Ren cheered. There's a small and quiet but energetic cheer from the gang, clapping hands and smirking at each other.
"Hey, uh before we go. I wanna ask, how'd you guys end up in his Palace?" Beat says, looking at Kairi, "Mean, ya never said".
"OOOOH right…well see, what happened was-
*SLAM*
Kairi's face goes face-first into her ramen, completely unconscious.
The team just stared at her, blinking at her and beyond confused, sharing a few glances between them all.
"…I think we should save that story for tomorrow," Neku says, "Guess her Persona took more out of her than we thought".
"Alright, we'll ask her after tomorrow's investigation. Until then, I'll see you guys in the morning," Ren says as everyone gets up, Sora being the one to lift Kairi from her reman face wash. Farewells were made and good nights were shared before they all go their separate ways.
*Nearing WildKat*
"Can't believe they bought your crappy excuse…where'd you even hear of "Shinjuku" or even "Shibuya?" Roxas asks.
"I quickly took a peek into Sora's memories here and there, learned the names and locations of this world. Plus the transfer students thing seem to be a useful alibi for us, especially if Riku's thoughts on this situation are true," Naminé explained.
"You mean that Mr. H guy knew we'd show up sooner or later?" Ventus asked.
"That's what I'm thinking, yes," Namine replied, "But that's just a guess on both our ends".
"Well if we see a set of uniforms, keys, and phones for you guys in here, then you're right on the munny," Riku hummed as he opened the door to the café, "Sora, just place Kairi on the couch for now and I'll see if Mr. H has any more of that potion or whatever it was".
As he entered with Sora carrying a still unconscious (and miso reman smelling) Kairi into the café with the twin boys, Xion leaned into Naminé's ear. "Riku's butt looks nice in a uniform, doesn't it?".
"…yes~," Naminé sighed dreamily before following Xion into their potential new home.
Inside, Riku switched on the lights and had the shutters pulled down while everyone got comfortable in the lounge room, Sora laying Kairi's head on his lap. Riku carries the bottle in one hand but a sizable box underneath his free arm. He sighed and placed the box on the large coffee table before them, and when Ventus opens it, their suspicions were confirmed. Inside the box are five Shujin uniforms, ID badges, keys to the café along with a note for them all.
And even phones. Not Gummi Phones like Sora and Riku's but closer to Ren and the others.
"Yup, looks like I was right," he says.
"This is not a coincidence," Naminé frowned, "Somebody must have drawn us here…but why us?".
Before anyone could speak, Kairi suddenly shoots up from her nap and sits up, nearly colliding her forehead with Sora's chin, yelling: "AQUA PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME SCRUB THE TOILETS AGAIN!".
She frantically looked around, sees she wasn't…wherever Aqua was and finds herself being stared at by the others, before wrinkling her nose. "Why do I smell like miso ramen?" she asks.
"Because you had a make-out session with your food earlier," Roxas teased, "I mean I get ramen is the second-best food out there but come on".
"What happened to you?" Sora asked, "You just collapsed all of a sudden". Kairi frowns and shook her head, telling them it wasn't the Persona's after-effects, but she was pulled into…a dream of sorts.
"Well since you're awake now and without Ren and the others, now is the time you tell us how you got to this world," Riku requests. Kairi settles into Sora and recounts her tale…
A/N:
What's this? An update? SO soon?
Yes, yes it is. So after posting on Sunday, I wasn't really happy with how rushed and scattered it was so to make it up to everyone, I made another one as soon as I could but with more time to get done right.
So now we have the Phantom Thieves Guild (Because the numbers are growing) on their first investigation, and the pressure is on~ But next time we'll be revealing Kairi's Persona, how she and the others ended up in the Palace, and how they're gonna face Kamoshida's scummy acts.
QUESTIONS:
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: Persona choices?
Q3: Beat and Rhyme's Phantom Thief design?
Q4: How are the fights, would you like them longer?
Q5: The group hanging out?
Q6: Would you like me to add the date and month with each chapter?
Q7: Thoughts on the heartless?
As always everyone, thank you for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!