The Cognitive World. The place to be when you want everyone's opinion on something. This is demonstrated by the color red that's seemingly everywhere, billboards of the true sides of people, and a place where Shadow Selves live.
But in the real world, these places may look entertaining in the head, but that just shows how corrupt someone is. Take Monigami Peroski for instance, he believes his house is a full-scale mansion, complete with everything to make a spoiled brat happy. With its antique vases on small little tables, to the amusing red carpets that lead in almost every direction. With its astounding white and gold paint job, and the cover-up smell of alcohol and mint air freshener, Monigami Peroski's Palace is a truly unpredictable place indeed.
It's got an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a man-cave with a giant TV and animal heads on the walls, a dining hall filled with alcoholic foods, and even a rainbow colored play-tunnel. These places symbolize the worst traits coming from Monigami, and it's our job to grab the Treasure, destroy the Palace and make him confess his crimes.
We had an opportunity last time, when Monigami was scared of Takeyoshi and the Treasure was wide open, but we helped Takeyoshi realize that revenge isn't everything, because taking the Treasure right there will make Monigami plunge into an even deeper despair. The Palace may be back to the way it was before it was screwed up by fear, but we still wanted the Treasure regardless. And now that the Palace is on high alert, we'd better get ready for the worst he's got.
The date was May 8th Sunday, only a few days until Monigami comes to my apartment and screws with my life. We stood in front of the mansion, well-prepared with everything we've got. In this world, my name is Hero, the leader of the crew. Using my Persona Hercules, and my super strength and flight, I'm able to do the right thing no matter what. Before I became Hero, I was scared to do anything to help others, but once I've awakened, I've never felt any more courageous in my life. I didn't do it alone though, I have my friends to thank me for that...
In the order I've met them: First was Gremlin, he's a pretty wild guy who felt as if he was kinda going soft once he first met me. He promises to be the rough and tough person all those rumors claimed him to be, but even then he was held back. His mother disappeared on him for some reason, we didn't know why she disappeared until much later, where we found out she actually went insane. This drove my friend Jin'ichi to unlock his Persona Gizmo and the power to break apart and put back together.
Next was Scalawag, the youngest of the bunch and the only one of the original team who doesn't have a Persona yet. He may be small, but he has proven to have quite the imagination. He can turn his ordinary pirate costume into a suit similar to ours, his stick turned into a sword, and he even taught it to change into different things like a whale or a baby elephant. Just two days ago, he went too far and caused Monigami to put his Palace into some sort of failsafe, but now he's just as experienced as we are. And it only took almost an entire week to get the hang of this place, I'm so proud of him!
Then came Doll-Hakaru, our unofficial member and tour guide of this place. He looks like me, only more cautious and made of fabric. This alternate me, among the other dolls, represent the babysitters Monigami had or are about to have. He is a part of Monigami's Cognition, but he's actually a nice guy, just like I am. I'm actually surprised Monigami got that part spot-on, because it's the only nice thing about this place, besides the pool.
And over here, we have Siren, the main girl in our little team. She's a nice gal to have around, despite her sexy thief outfit, because she has the strange ability to sense whether something is 'pure' or 'corrupt'. Although it was mainly born due to her being raped, that skill comes in real handy when trying to tell the good apart from the evil. Her Persona Ariel and her super powered charms allowed her to become a true pacifist, and she never lets herself fight Shadows unless she has to.
And then we have Liger, the most unexpected member of the crew! He is a literal liger that used to be some millionaire's pampered cat, but with Jin'ichi's help, we managed to set him straight and made him remember his past self.. His Persona is wild in itself, it's called Striped-Nemean and his Super Fury allows him to become a saber toothed warrior of justice! He can also talk, go figure.
Together, we started off as ordinary Phantom Thieves, but when we knew that revenge won't get us anywhere, and the fact that we seem more different from any of them that we heard about, we officially knew that we were ready for a true name. A name that may steal hearts and desires, but will only do so to save both regular and corrupt lives. We choose to help both sides because, while they may be bastards, we just want to see the good in them. From now on, we called ourselves:
The Phantom Crusaders!
There we stood, we faced the entrance to the mansion with determined looks on our faces and the non-existent wind in our hair. We knew our objective well, and now that the mansion is back in working order, we'll be more ready than ever to steal the desire. We decided to brief on the mission one last time before we went inside, for this is the last time we'll be in a fancy mansion like this. All of us huddled up as Siren went over the plan...
"So let's run through this one last time so that we don't forget. The 'Rest Area' was the farthest we've been in the Palace, and after that is where the Treasure is located. We still have the keys from last time, which makes entering the past rooms much faster. Doll-Hakaru still has my invincibility charm which allows him to roam freely without trouble. So all we have to worry about is securing the treasure for ourselves." "And change his heart, don't forget about that!" I added.
"You know, for rookies like yourselves, you sure know how to make a game plan." Doll-Hakaru said with my voice. "Yeah, we may have started off a bit rusty, but I think we're starting to get how these Phantom Thieves do their job." said Gremlin. "Yep. If stealing a heart is as simple as bashing heads and taking names, this'll be no sweat for us." Liger said with a smirk.
"Oh boy... my first ever heist as an official Phantom Crusader, I can't wait to start!" Scalawag was bouncing up and down, ready for the mission. He kinda reminds me of my sister, he's so energetic, optimistic and pretty fierce when he gets mad.
"Guys, I just want you guys to know, from the bottom of my heart, that I thank you for saving me from that eternal pain of the labyrinth. Now it's my turn to help you, I'll rally up the other dolls and meet you where Master Monigami is." I get it, if Doll-Hakaru can do it, then it probably means all of that karma is about to turn on him...
"It's been an honor serving with me- I mean you." I shake his fabric hand as Scalawag looks at me a bit worried: "Do we have to leave him here? I actually kinda like this version of you. He's floppy, he's a nice guy, and most importantly..." "He's cute. I noticed that, but sometimes you just have to let go of things that can't be with you anymore." Siren comforted. "Trust me kiddo, it's harder than it looks." Liger added.
"But Takeyoshi, overcoming grief and fear is one of the many steps the Phantom Thieves themselves took to be great." said Gremlin. "And Takeyoshi, if we don't do this, my life will be in danger. But remember, this isn't just a mere revenge plot, it's about changing one's heart to save them!" I said with all my heart. "Yeah. I understand that now. Thanks for sticking by my side heroes." I did a high five with Scalawag after he expressed his thankfulness.
"Well!? What are we waiting for!? I'm not gonna just stand here and hug it out, that'll soften me up!" Liger says taping his foot, Gremlin relates: "The cat's right. We'd better move, there's no telling how long we have to steal the Treasure." "Right! Ready to roll team?" I asked the crew.
"Indeed." says Siren with a calm smile. "Hell yeah." says Gremlin with a smirk. "Lead the way leader!" said Scalawag. "Heh. This'll be fun." Liger smirked as well. "See you soon guys, the treasure is just up the stairs and down the hall." Doll-Hakaru said confidently.
"I know, let's do this. Phantom Crusaders, away!" I say over-dramatically, but Siren looked at me blushing at that statement: "That doesn't sound very confident..." Gremlin on the other hand liked my attitude as he cracked his knuckles: "You never change Harry. Let's rumble!"
"You see!? That's how you do a send-off quote!" Liger complained about my attempt of a 'let's go' kind of thing. All I had to say was: "My bad..." embarrassingly. "Enough talk! Let's claim ye booty!" Scalawag says in his cute little pirate tone, I missed it when he talked like that.
We all cheered as we all blasted through the front door using my Super Power. A bunch of the butlers noticed us, and we had to fight them using only our current skills. We brought energy drinks, that's cool, but we'll save our regularly used powers for an emergency, which meant we had to fight using our bare hands. I launched myself at the ones aiming for Doll-Hakaru and took some of them down using my fists, Gremlin gave me a hand by using his trusty crowbar to smack them upside the head.
I looked at myself scratching his head from the double attack, me and Gremlin performed: "Doll me, the path is cleared out from here on, they're too focused on us to notice you." I told myself filled with determination. "Thanks guys. Even though saving me was completely pointless in the first place, I'm still glad that you guys care so much for something so little." Doll-Hakaru says as he runs towards the pool and the jailhouse where the dolls are locked up.
"Eh, that's just how we roll. Now... who's next?" Gremlin says pulling off that psychopathic smirk he was so well known for, I used to be scared of it but it kinda grew on me as time went on. "Over here! Over here!" Scalawag shouted as he signaled us to lend him a hand...
Scalawag and Liger were taking turns fighting a bigger Shadow. The pirate swung his sword and Liger used his claws, added together, these two were doing fine on their own. Gremlin then laughed as he swung his crowbar through the Shadow's head, and Scalawag, who could use his imagination freely now, threw his sticky sword into the air, shouted that it'll turn into a whale, and then the sword turned itself into a giant whale to squish the Shadow. After squishing it, he grabbed the whale by its tail and it turned back into the sword. Scalawag then charged at more Shadows as he kept swinging the sword he had.
Siren on the other hand was having trouble, her style was to play defensive, but because we wanted to save our powers for later, that meant she couldn't use her Persona. She's stuck on the defensive blocking every hit she could endure with her bubble wand, she can't defend herself forever. I dashed right on over and used my Super Power, in an act of emergency, to blast away the surrounding Shadows with a mighty clap! Siren touched my back, which healed me using her power, which doesn't tire her as much as it tires me and Gremlin
"Thanks!" I shouted confidently. "My pleasure." Siren nodded as Gremlin whistled for us and we dashed up the main staircase as fast as we could. On our way up, I remembered the places I've been to. The pool where I learned to rebel, the dining table where we made a mistake, and the man-cave where we discovered Liger's origins. Seeing these places again, even briefly, inspired me to keep pushing forward, regardless of my many fears.
We blasted through one Shadow after the other as we passed the play tunnel, past the safe room, and further down the hallway. The walls were getting distorted as the gold that was on the walls started to blend with the rest of the mansion. We felt like a shining light was going to lead us to the Treasure, but when we stepped into it, what did we see but a bigger staircase with a red carpet!
"Aw what? More stairs!?" Scalawag complained. "How many stairs does this guy have?" I asked myself as I began to think that this guy loves to walk up and down stairs, despite hating exercise. "Look! This goes straight into that bigger building!" Siren pointed to a big silver building right on top of the outdoor segment! It was shaped like some sort of Church with the clocktower included. The building was entirely silver, but the alcohol smell got worse from here, fortunately we can push right through that smell as we identified the extra building's meaning.
"You think that's where the Treasure is?" Gremlin grinned as he looked at the building while scratching his head. "There's no time to think! We gotta move!" Liger shouted as he pointed behind us...
Shadows were coming up from behind, and we had to run for our lives as we entered the wooden building through the glass doors. We shut the doors and ducked away from plain sight before they left to presumingly warn Monigami. "Wow, that was too close!" I said before we looked at the strange scenery of this bizarre building.
To our surprise, this place looks exactly like a church. There're wooden seats lined up in two huge rows, strange glass paintings of Monigami, and two white-cloaked preachers standing in front of a huge golden statue of the rich boy. They seem to be worshipers of some sort, but it took only two seconds for Gremlin to put two and two together...
"Whoa. Isn't that his parents?" "Well, he did say that his parents treat him like an angel..." Scalawag wondered, I was a bit disturbed seeing his parents portrayed like this: "I just thought that banter from before was just him trying to be intimidating." "Yeah? And this is supposed to be intimidating? All I see are people being complete fools..." Liger was being a bit sarcastic with his voice, he's seen people like this before, but apparently he's seen those people enough to know what's going on.
"Remember, we're technically in the kid's brain right now, so naturally this is what Monigami thinks of his own dear parents..." Gremlin clears up. "Oh my, I don't see any signs of purity from these mad cultists. Why do they treat him like God?" Siren questioned while shaking her crossed arms as I felt a sickening pain in my stomach just by looking at them: "I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling about this..."
I couldn't tell anything else about these adult figures with the white cloaks on, but they suddenly kept going up and down bowing to the statue as if he was a false god. I knew those parents were crazy, but if Monigami himself and Akiyo were any indication, there's no doubt that these people were completely obsessed with their precious baby. I suppose after the kid drank alcohol, and witnessed Naruki's parent's deaths, they went crazy knowing that they will do literally anything to prove that their child is innocent...
"Our salvation rests in the hands of our Lord and savior, Monigami." said the male. "We send him to others so that he would be in good hands, while we have the entire day to ourselves." said the female. They kept taking turns worshiping their 'false god' while we stood there and watched...
"But every time we leave him in capable hands, those hands betray our will and blame him for such atrocious crimes." "Our superior overlord deserves all the affection in the world, but regardless of our love, we share him with the world because they want to feel his love too!" "We are not worthy of a perfect child such as his graciousness." "He is our life, we can't just let him rot with those atrocious humans!"
The male sounded near emotionless, but also sounded very fatherly for a child. Monigami's mother on the other hand sounded completely obsessed with him, with hints of anger and delusion, she must've been the one who suggested that they should make Monigami their king. What kind of parents are those!? I mean, I would be fine if I was pampered that much, but this is way too much for a kid to comprehend!
"Whoa... they really love him don't they?" I say as we all stare at the two like they're insane. "Love is an understatement. They are completely addicted to their own child, they only let others watch him because they think it's good for them..." Gremlin said biting his lip.
"No wonder why they don't believe my parents! My parents are in a heated rivalry with Monigami's parents, and one time they came home steaming mad, without the power to do anything about it. There's no doubt in my mind that it's all their fault that Monigami is like this..." Scalawag twitched his eye a bit, but it wasn't to an extent where he wanted to kill them.
"If Monigami exaggerates their personality, that means their real selves are very cautious of their child's safety. When I tried calling them before, they were straight to the point while trying to get a babysitter." Siren told us while cringing upon seeing this bizarre form of worshipping.
"Oh whatever, can we just take these chumps down, and teach them a lesson in worshiping a fake god?" Liger shrugged and assumed battle position. "We shall try. They have already broken two amendments: No other God but He, and do not worship a false god." Siren says keeping her facts about the ten amendments. Jin'ichi follows along as he smirks and cracks his knuckles: "They break the holy rules, I break their spines."
"I still feel a bit bad trying to kill a kid's own parents, regardless of what form they take." I say a bit worried, I knew they were fake and yet their voices seemed so real, just like with Doll-Hakaru and the bull. "Not to worry about it Hero, they're just fakes." Scalawag said with confidence, while I stood there sweating with a small feeling of pressure: "I knew that! But still..." I scratched my head in shame as the preachers noticed our presence...
They slowly turned around, and when I say slow, I mean so slowly that we'd get to see their faces. The male's face seems straight, blank, and his eyes are closed. The female is more or less the same, but her frown was more of a growl with her teeth springing out at us. This made me jump back a little as everyone stood up and faced them with dramatic stances, and I just awkwardly got up and rubbed my eyes before casually making a shaking fist.
"I feel a sense of alarm, as if we have accusers to our humble abode." said the guy calmly, but aggressively as if his calm demeanor hid all sorts of anger. "We won't let you destroy our precious angel!" The lady suddenly snapped as her tone got even less stoic than before. "Yes. You shall experience pain unlike anything else you imbeciles have ever felt." The male called us imbeciles, but we aren't likely to be taken as a fool. "For the sake of our angel, we shall cleanse your sinful selves." said the two of them at once.
That statement alone triggered Siren, which made me jump a bit because I really don't like it when she gets angry like that. She just points at them, unable to keep herself calm due the religious statements she understood: "Cleanse!? We're not corrupt, you two are the ones who are impure! All you do is treat your son like he is your God, but he is not a god he is a child who has been forced to be pampered his whole life! Don't you see he doesn't deserve this unhealthy love!?" "You tell 'em fishy lady!" Liger joined in because he can.
"I see now, you are an evil being indeed." Said the male cultist as it confused Siren: "Huh!?" "You dare blame our angel for your eternal suffering!? You really are no different from those so-called 'protectors', who only want him to suffer!" The female shouted in anger. "You are too good for cleansing, what you filthy demons deserve is death." The male said while losing his composure and keeping a straight face.
"Oh yeah!? Well what happens if your precious angel goes to college!?" Scalawag yelled as the preachers alternated between themselves again, starting with the male: "We shall not let him. If our child grows up, then he'll drink that vicious liquid made from sin again..." "Don't you see!? We're only trying to protect him from the horrors of this sinful world! If he grows up, that will make him forget about our love, he'll never be the same without us!"
"He goes to school because he still requires knowledge, but we shan't let him go to a place where we can't see him again." "How dare you upset us by threatening our beloved child to go to college! You will never live to see the day again!" I could see the female shaking her closed eyes, which looked like twitching when you think about it.
"But I didn't even wanna threaten-" They both interrupt Scalawag as they scream with anger, an anger that was more dangerous than the child itself. They blast out a dark aura that turned them into two protectors of the 'pure'. They had angel wings, but they had nothing to do with holy. They looked like angels, but all we felt were a bunch of people acting like they loved him, but they seemed too crazy to watch without calling the police in real-time. I was personally startled by how human they look, but then I remembered, this is Monigami we're talking about. These two are the only realistic humans here, everything else is either a donkey, a servant, or a doll.
"So Hero, now do you want to beat up a child's parents?" Gremlin looked at me as I felt a bit sorry for them letting their delusions go out of control: "Looks like we don't have a choice. Let's show these Shadows what purity really is!" I stand my ground ready to fight!
"Now you're speaking my language." Siren says calmly as she holds her hands to her heart. "Less talking, more smashing." Liger said with a smirk on his face and Gremlin held his arm on his mask as he laughed to himself: "I couldn't agree more, heheheh." And then, we all shout, and roar, at the top of our lungs as we call upon our rebellious spirit to fight!
"Persona!"
A blast of blue fire unleashed from our souls as our masks came off, and a cat roared, which brought forth our Personas! The mighty armored demigod Hercules, the crazy little guy Gizmo, the peaceful mermaid of purity Ariel, and the fierce two-headed cat Striped Namean! Scalawag's sword also turned into a small green baby dragon which he rode on.
Me, Gremlin, and Liger went after the male and Siren and Scalawag will take down the female. The angel tried piercing us with his holy spear, but Liger dodged as he and Striped Namean started glowing orange. Liger roared as he, and his Persona, announced his power...
"Super Fury!"
Striped Namean's fur spiked up and both heads gained saber teeth while the lion head's mane was engulfed in fire. At the same time, Liger gained stripes and saber teeth of his own. Both him and his Persona roared as they pounced the male angel, which made him wide open to our attacks!
Gremlin and Gizmo used their Super Assemble to piece together a wooden fist made from the wooden seats surrounding us for my right arm. I unleashed my Super Power to send it right to the enemy's chest and Hercules, who also had Super Power, punched even harder into the face and it broke the wooden fist as the angel disappeared. I fist bumped Gremlin, preferably without using my powers, and Liger just rolled his eyes as Siren and Scalawag were still fighting the female angel.
The entire time, they were dodging her maniacal javelins as Ariel kept using her bubble shield to protect the two of them. Scalawag unleashed his pirate cannon and dragon-fire on the angel, and then Siren used a weak bubble beam from her wand to distract the angel so that Scalawag would have enough time to turn the dragon back into the sword, throw said sword up high, and then squish the female angel under another whale.
We all cheered for our victory against these Shadows, but still, it was too easy for our tastes. It was almost as if we were even stronger than the Shadows themselves, it must've been these extra powers we triggered within us. While we were cheering for our victory, Liger facepalmed while facing Scalawag.
"Dude, why do you keep squishing things with whales?" He asked. "I dunno, it must be a habit I do!" Scalawag said cheerfully. "That's our boy, now where's the Treasure?" I said looking around for any clues. "Doll-Harry said the Treasure is somewhere around here." Gremlin said looking around the statue. "Could it be that big shiny thing up there?" Liger pointed up as the others noticed it too, we had to back up a bit to notice the top of the platform.
I noticed the big shiny thing too, it was all the way at the top of the interior on a wooden walkway that looks like an X with a huge circle in the middle. As they say in a pirate flic, or in Scalawag's case...
"Argh, X marks the spot!" "That's brilliant! But how are we supposed to get up there?" Siren asked as she put both hands on her head to focus. "I don't see any elevators- huh!?" Liger said as he gasped and looked at me funny.
"What?" I said with literally no idea what's going on. "Oh no, we are not going to fly up there!" Liger shook his head like crazy denying that I had the power to fly. Gremlin smirked like he knew exactly what was going on: "Great idea Liger, we'll just fly up there using Hero's Super Power!" Gremlin reminded me as I looked up and estimated the distance: "Huh. I knew I could do that. I can give you guys a lift, but damn, that's a long way up, I wouldn't want to drop any of you if I run out by then."
"You see!? That's my problem! We're going to die if we fall from a height that big!" Liger was shivering as if he was scared of heights, I don't blame you. But Scalawag looked at Liger like he knew something about cats: "Don't cats land on their feet?" "Oh sure, and I'm Santa Claus." Liger said sarcastically, but Scalawag actually thought he was Santa Claus: "Ooh, can I have a toy whale gun?" "Oh brother..." Liger facepalmed embarrassed of Scalawag's literal approach.
"Try energy drinking as you fly Hero, I wouldn't want to waste Siren's magical healing charm on you yet." Gremlin said as he gave me a full can to work with. "Do you really think it'll work? I don't do so well with drinking huge amounts of drinks." I said reminding myself that I've never done a sugar rush before.
"Hey, if you could pull the string when I told you not to, then you know what to do with that energy can." Gremlin said proudly as that sparked some degree of courage in me: "Well, I'll try. But if we all die because of me, I'm very sorry." And I really hope we don't die because of me.
"I am not going to grab on to a coward's body." Liger still doesn't want to fly the risky way, Scalawag looks around a bit and says with concern: "Are you sure? More Shadows will be coming soon, and you can't last forever y'know." "Not to mention, there is a small chance that you will perish if outnumbered..." Siren told him as Liger planned on taking down every last one of them, the problem is that he greatly respects Siren's calm nature, and he felt more embarrassed just saying yes: "...goddamn it, what did I do to deserve this fate?"
Everyone grabs me like there's no tomorrow and Gremlin puts the open can of energy booster in my mouth. My eye twitches, my right foot thumbed like no tomorrow, and my body shakes as I glow green and shoot up like a rocket. Everyone screams as I want to panic too, but not with a can in my mouth. We all flew above the wooden platform before we crash-landed, we were relieved that we're okay, and alive for that matter. But all of a sudden, I was suddenly shaking with hyperactivity, with no way to turn off my power. I was sputtering all over the place and I couldn't think straight, but everyone else was okay, so that's just perfect.
"Oh yeah! That was awesome! Don't feel so down in the dumps, we're alive! That was fun wasn't it Hero?" Gremlin asked while feeling alive, my response?: "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum, yeah! Yeah! I can't stop!" Liger felt a little sick from the flight, but he noticed my state and clearly remembered what happened a few days ago: "Wasn't this guy drunk before?" "Yeah, but now it's the exact opposite problem." Scalawag said as he tilted his head while looking at me.
"Perhaps overindulging in energetic super fuel was a bad idea." Thanks for clearing that up Siren, it doesn't help me that a single handshake could break an arm off!
"H-How do I t-turn m-myself off!?" I asked Gremlin, who surprisingly took advantage of my sputtering state: "Maybe we shouldn't, with this much power coming from Hero, we might stand a chance due to his sugar rush." "I get it! Hero will have a huge advantage with his Super Power constantly on!" Scalawag makes a good point, but what do we do with me shaking all over the place?
"H-How long d-does it l-last!?" "According to researchers, the average sugar rush lasts for 30 to 40 minutes before all that energy built up disappears from him all at once." Siren informs us while looking like a smartie. "Perfect, that's 30 whole minutes of Super Power baby!" Gremlin said about to high five, but he pulled away because he doesn't want to get launched.
"That's also 30 minutes to find the treasure, so we could get away easily!" Scalawag says amazed by my accidental sugar rush, I guess with knowledge like this, I can't disagree. "Um guys?" Liger points at the X, and we saw the glass case that Scalawag said the dollar is.
We looked at the glass case in the middle of the X that contained the two thousand yen bill, and to our surprise, nothing was there. All of a sudden, we were all surrounded by Shadow butlers of all kinds, it was an ambush! I would've been frightened if I wasn't so shaky! Shadow Monigami came out with that smug face of his and looked like he really was the king of the world, not that he actually is though.
"Oho! You really thought that you would steal my treasure so easily? I always keep this in my pocket in case of an emergency." Shadow Monigami says as he pats the right pocket with the dollar in it. "Monigami!? How'd you get up here?" Siren sounded surprised but Shadow Monigami shrugged it off as he said: "I took the elevator in the back."
"I knew there was a better idea than just flying to the top! We could've even skipped that crazy cult fight!" Liger facepalmed again as he complained that we could've saved a few moments just by being more aware of our surroundings. Gremlin then points out: "Yeah, but that'll mean having to do nothing for a minute or two. Flying to the top was definitely faster, and more satisfying." "Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyou think!?" I replied while shaking in my standing position.
"What's his fucking problem?" Shadow Monigami points at me as Scalawag defends me: "He's been super charged with super energy! He has the strength to lift a whale! So if you refuse to hand us the Treasure, we'll have Hero demolish this whole building!" Shadow Monigami holds his hand in his pocket as he begins to throw more cuss words...
"Oh yeah? What makes you think I'll just hand over my desire to shit eating piss-ants like you!? Everything in my mansion was absolutely perfect until you fuckers showed up! I won't give you this bill just because you managed to destroy and distort my loving mansion! You even managed to turn one of the dolls against me! Do you know how long it took me to think of a possible candidate for my service!?"
"Blah blah blah, all you do is go on and on about how your precious mansion got wrecked." Gremlin says unamused and Scalawag followed him up by saying: "We only wrecked it because you were going to wreck Hero!" With small childish anger. I couldn't help but join in, despite my shaking body: "Y-Yeah! W-We're going t-to put an e-end to your c-crimes!" Monigami looks unimpressed as his smirk turned into that maniacal expression he sometimes does...
"Heh. You have no fucking clue who you're messing with. I am a fucking god to these peasants! You are all nothing but a pathetic crumb on an all-you-can-eat-buffet to me! With supporters like these, I can do anything I wa-"
Suddenly Liger grabs Monigami by the mouth and lifts him up and throws him off the platform. We all stood there in shock as Liger rubbed his hands together. The Shadows all ran away from us for some reason, must be because they're trying to recover Monigami. We all stood there completely shocked at Liger's sudden move and he just shrugged it off!
"Problem solved. Let's go get that dollar." Liger said with a smirk. Scalawag was the first to berate him: "Dude! A fall from this height would kill someone remember!?" "Yeah, not cool." Gremlin said to him with a disappointed look, I can clearly understand, he clearly wanted to see where this was going, but apparently Liger cut him off.
"What? I was just making sure you guys remembered this wasn't about revenge. Besides, there's nothing to worry about, with that chubby tummy of his, he'll bounce right back up if we're lucky. See? Here he comes now... I think...?" Well he does have a point, cutting to the chase last time really screwed up Monigami's mind, but he didn't have to throw him down mid-monologue! Just then, the ground began to rumble as the support for the wooden structure we're standing on began to crumble.
I grabbed everyone with my flight and we crashed onto the floor again as we saw a big red and black blob where Monigami was. I've got a feeling that we're about to face his true form, so with determined expressions on our faces, we prepared to face Monigami's Gluttony personified!
We took a closer look at the new form Monigami was about to take, and oh man was it huge! It took the shape of a big pink chubby humanoid pig, with a curly tail, short stubby legs and arms shaped like claws, a big vest made out of money, a snout in the place of a nose, a belt that held white underpants with dollar signs on them, and fangs as it breathed with its mouth.
This thing was absolutely gigantic, it was about as tall as the already big Monigami statue and man did it make me reconsider thinking he was a pig, as a matter of fact, he was a total got to us now!
Everyone else was frightened or angry at the big guy, but we still had a job to do... The pig monologues again as Siren looked for any major injuries on our bodies. Nothing serious, just a few bumps and bruises...
"You think that you can step into my beautiful mansion and trash it up!? You dumb fucks need to learn a lesson in respecting the rich and powerful! Anyone else is nothing but an animal! While some may be useful to an extent, all the others are just disgusting! Get out of my damn mansion already and just let me be, before I have to plunge my ass into your cunt faces!"
"I'm sorry, we're the animals? You're the real animal here!" Siren shputed as Scalawag followed up by saying: "Yeah! Literally!" "I'm standing right here y'know... Although, come to think of it, I've never eaten anything pig related in a long time..." Liger was a little insulted, but he was clearly more focused on the fight.
"Just give us the damn bill already, or else we'll take it from your greedy ass." Gremlin says a bit bored. "T-This e-ends now y-you swine!" I stutter. "Swine? Me!? Oh no, I'm not just any old swine, I am the most perfect piggy in the world! No one tells me what not to do! Anyone who does... becomes pork chopped!" The giant pig squealed as we readied our battle positions.
The giant piggy shoots mud from his nostrils as we all dodge with grace. Scalawag attempts the whale trick again, but he needs time to make the whale big enough to hit that hog where it hurts. In the meantime, we hit him with everything we had! Liger used Super Fury and chomped into the butt of the hog, then the pig squealed as he resorted to punching Liger with his huge hog muscles. Liger was smashed against the wall as me and Gremlin let him have it!
Gremlin took advantage of my hyperactive state, and he threw his Persona Gizmo in Moni-Piggy's face, this distracted him for me as I let loose all that I could muster. By punching him several times, it did massive damage to his belly, and it gave him a bellyache which forced him to drink the bottle of alcohol in his arm to restore his wounds. Gremlin couldn't help but wonder: "How the hell is alcohol doing good for him?"
"Ehehehe, you foolish punks keep forgetting! I love alcohol so much, it restores my will to fight!" Shadow Monigami said as he chugged on more as Liger got out of the wall he crashed into and yelled: "Like that's supposed to make a lick of sense!"
"I could dine on this stuff all day, but-" I interrupted him by charging at the bottle with an unsettling burst of speed, I crashed into it as it split all over the floor. The glass almost hit us, but Gremlin then threw a lighter into the alcohol, which caused it to explode! I used my ultra speed to grab Gremlin and Liger in time as the explosion covered the giant piggy's skin. Meanwhile, Siren is using her passive powers to heal us while Scalawag continues making the giant whale.
"The one thing wrong with alcohol, it's highly flammable." Gremlin said as he flipped the bird at the pig, wow. Moni-Piggy put out the flames as he expressed his anger: "Ouch! That really hurt motherfucker! I'm telling my guardians! Mama! Papa! These demons are trying to kill me!"
Just then, the male angel and the female angel appeared before us again, they seem angrier than before. I would get startled by this, if I wasn't shaking all over the place, for some reason all of this hyperactivity is making me unable to feel any fear! Does this mean when I'm hyper, I don't get scared as often as I used to? It sure helps me stay on my toes with parents like this.
"Oh no, not these two psychos again!" Liger complained as the preachers expressed anger in their own way: "Ah, I see the sinners have returned, this time picking on our god." The male sounded a bit more stern than before. "You have no idea how precious he is to us! Do you want to rot in prison for the rest of your heartless lives!?" That female was just as violent as ever.
"Let me guess, this happens every time Monigami has a babysitter?" Gremlin says unamused and yet ticked off. "I'd say so." Siren said calmly. "D-Don't y-you s-see t-that h-he is using y-you!?" I stuttered as Liger pointed at me like he knows what I'm saying: "The Superman is right y'know, a real parent shouldn't put their child in potential danger if every babysitter he ever got went cuckoo."
"Especially my mother, that child of yours drove my mother into madness!" Gremlin said reminding himself of what he did to his family, the preachers refused to believe it: "So what's your point? Every human has a monster inside them..." "Every human, except our adorable little god! We will never let you freaks sacrifice him for your demonic rituals!"
"Okay now this is getting ridiculous..." I couldn't agree any more Liger... "Yeah that's what you motherfuckers deserve! I enjoy toying with my dolls because I love to see how they would react to a devilish child like me! In the end, my parents would always see them as nothing but a fucked-up shell of a man! I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, to them I'm the devil, but to my own loving parents... I am the richest piece of swine in the world!" Shadow Monigami snorted while laughing as the two guardians looked at us with an intense rage.
"Uh oh, you three can take all three of them on for me, can you? The whale's not done yet!" Scalawag said while trying to focus his power into creating the biggest whale that nobody else noticed yet except for us. "I don't think we can, with their anger reaching critical mass, we'll be overwhelmed before you know it." Gremlin said as he began to sweat. "And since my magic doesn't have that much effect on offense, and given that even I have my own stamina to worry about..." Siren said as I somehow managed to panic in my hyperactive state...
"Ooooooooohhhhhh noooo!!" Even if my Super Power could stop them all, I'm not positive that I can do this without help. We got ready to fight to the death as Moni-piggy snorted while he laughed. Just as the angels began to open fire, I heard my voice as he shouted to Shadow Monigami: "Master Monigami!" "Wah!? Who the fuck said that!?" Shadow Monigami looked around suspiciously. "Another sinner I'd bet..." The male preacher said while still getting ready to attack. "Over here!" my voice said as we all looked behind us...
It was Doll-Hakaru, holding a torch in his left arm. Next to him are all the broken dolls riding on the jackasses that Monigami kept locked up. They all growled, laughed or moaned at Shadow Monigami and his guardians. Doll-Hakaru himself was riding the donkey with Jin'ichi's sunglasses and spiky haircut, with the broken and beaten doll of Jin'ichi's mother on Doll-Hakaru's back. We all looked at the scene with awe as Shadow Monigami looked at the scene with confusion and fear.
"Oh you little paper thumb, you just wanted an epic moment to yourself, didn't you?" Gremlin smiled brighter than before while he was impressed by the crew's dramatic entrance. "Y-you r-rallied u-up the d-dolls!" I said extra proud of myself, literally! "Wow... I used to think these guys were scary, but now look at them!" Scalawag said wowed as Siren noticed the whale shrinking: "Focus child!" "Oh right! Giant whale..." The whale started picking up the pace again as Shadow Monigami looked at the dolls and jackasses he called trash...
"What the!? What is the meaning of this!?" Doll-Hakaru began to speak, it was in my serious tone that I sometimes pull out whenever I feel the urge to prove myself, and man did it sound epic coming from a figment of imagination!
"For too long have we lived right under your thumb Monigami, every one of these donkeys ride in because they are sick of being deceived by children like you. And these dolls, you may think of them as mere toys, but if there's anything my new friends have taught me, it's to have the guts to do what's right! That's what I taught the other dolls too, and they have only one thing on their minds now..."
Doll-Hakaru then pulled Mrs. Sumula's string as we heard the same broken voice, but it sounded even more angry than before as it was more directed at Monigami than ever! "You ruined my life! You ruined everyone's life! You even ruined my son's faith in me! I will not sit here anymore and let a child like you roam the streets! I'll make you pay...!"
"Revenge." Doll-Hakaru concluded his speech as the other dolls and jackasses growled, laughed, whatever they do, louder than before! I've never seen these guys so determined before, I don't even want to know how he even convinced an entire room of donkeys to fight Monigami, but I felt so happy at that moment. Gremlin was surprisingly happier than usual, seeing his own mother get enraged over Monigami was pretty darn satisfying to him. And whenever Jin'ichi smiled peacefully, regardless of my hyperactive state, I felt very satisfied too.
"Yeah, you go get 'em mom..." He said while letting a tear or two fly. "Attack!" Doll-me shouted as the donkeys let loose a swarm of hee-haws and charged straight at the two preachers and Moni-Piggy. Liger and Gremlin followed suit as the donkeys kicked the two angels back and forth. Gizmo and Striped Namean went to town with those angels as they mauled them while they were distracted by the very jackasses Monigami underestimated. Meanwhile, the dolls all got on Shadow Monigami's face as they attempted to tear him limb from limb.
"Hey!!! You motherfucking toys better get off of me!! Don't you touch that!" "Thanks a lot mom, you're the best!" Gremlin said pumping his fist up in the air. He always wanted to help his mother, but even Jin'ichi never predicted that his mother would be doing the same. I'm so proud of him right now! "Hero! Now's your time to strike!" Liger shouted as I said with confidence in my shaking face: "O-Okay!"
I flew into the sky with my endless Super Power still on, I then kept punching the giant hog about ten times before Scalawag gave me the signal that he was ready! I looked up from where the shadow was covering and the whale he imagined was so huge that it covered the entire room all by itself! With a deep breath, I decided to give Monigami a warning as he knocked away the dolls on his face.
"Why you little piece of shit... do you even know who I am!? I have the power to ban you from this world you know! I am unstoppable!" "Oh y-yeah? You may have p-protection, and all t-the riches in your h-heart, bu-but we h-have a w-whale!"
Everyone ducked in cover as Scalawag let's go of the whale and it landed square on Shadow Monigami's head. This knocked him down hard enough to turn him back to his small self, the whale quickly turned back into a sword as we all cheered with the broken dolls moaning in delight and the donkeys hee-hawed all over the place. I on the other hand got so tired all of a sudden that I couldn't move a muscle, I slowly landed on the floor as Siren placed an extra charm on my stomach to help my sugar crash wear off.
"Thanks Siren." "It is what I do best, give thanks." She smiled at me, which made me feel warm enough to smile that goofy little smile I was known for. Scalawag then hugged Doll-Hakaru, Gremlin interacted with his mother's cognitive image, and Liger patted the heads on a few of the jackasses.
"Doll-Hakaru! You were absolutely amazing, how did you get everyone here?" "Well, I used my strength to rescue the donkeys, who then helped me rescue the dolls. It looks like they were all out to get Monigami in some way." "Thank you so much Doll-Hakaru, we couldn't have done it without you!" Takeyoshi laughed as Doll-me smiled, I guess even Monigami thinks I smile when I see someone smile back at me.
"Hey mom? Turn that frown upside-down, I'm here for you now..." Jin'ichi pulled the string on his mother's back and out came another new message that sounded a bit healed from her experience with Monigami, and it felt so happy for the son she raised: "Thank you son." It was short, but something this hardening made him tear up as he hugged her and said: "Goddamn... I miss you already..."
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm keeping the fuzzy one." Naruki said as he rubbed the fuzzy one's fur. "Um... guys? What about Monigami?" I ask, just barely starting to recover.
"He's right, he still has the treasure you guys sought for. But be wary that once you get the treasure, you'll never see me, or any of us, again..." Doll-Hakaru said as Takeyoshi stopped smiling and looked at the doll with a worried face: "Doll-Hakaru... say it ain't so, there has to be some way we can take you with us!"
"I'm sorry. We're all part of Monigami's imagination whether you like it or not. And now that you guys are about to steal his desires, there's no need for us anymore..." He sounded depressed, just like when I was whenever I felt alone or helpless.
Takeyoshi teared up as he had to say goodbye to a friend he made in this world again, this time for good... "Oh no... I don't want to leave you Doll-Hakaru, but I can't let Monigami get away with the Treasure again..." Doll-Hakaru put his floppy hand on Takeyoshi's shoulder like I always do to him whenever I feel comforting...
"Look, you guys are real, you have flesh and blood and everything else that makes you special. You have your own life to live and so did we. But we aren't like any of you... we only represent what the real Monigami thinks of all of you. But just because you'll never see us again, doesn't mean you won't remember us. Even though we can't come with you to the real world, you'll always have your real friends to look after you. And let me tell you something, without you Takeyoshi, your little band couldn't have gotten far. I'm so proud of you, and so is everyone else." He smiled as Takeyoshi tried to accept the pressure of losing a copy of me forever...
"Doll-Hakaru! I don't want to leave you forever!" I spoke next, having nearly the same tone that Doll-me had: "It's okay Takeyoshi, remember you've still got us, that's like the next best thing compared to Doll-me. And besides, without us you would've ended up more helpless than I ever was, and without you, we couldn't have figured out how to beat the bull. Phantom Crusader or not, you are a wonderful friend to the end Takeyoshi..."
Takeyoshi began to cry again, but now he's beginning to accept that Doll-Hakaru will be gone, but at least he has us... "Y-Yeah... I guess you're right... without any of you guys, I wouldn't have met Doll-Hakaru in the first place...without any of you guys, I could've killed Monigami when I knew he doesn't deserve it..." "It's okay young Takeyoshi... thanks for everything..." Akiyo said proudly as she felt purely joyful upon seeing the young child become a better person.
Takeyoshi rushed into my arms, still a tiny bit weak from the sugar crash, and Akiyo joined in too. This feeling of comfort always satisfies me in some way that I just can't explain, it makes me want to help people even more. Jin'ichi and Liger said their goodbyes too, and let me say this now, I've never seen Jin'ichi so sad before...
"I guess that means I'll never see you again huh? Well, it was fun while it lasted right? I'll make sure to visit you in the crazy bin someday. Just know this, I'll live on for you and my father, I won't let anything else get me down in the dumps again. Okay?" Then he smiled, not his usual happy-go-lucky smile, but rather a smile he tried to force himself to do. Jin'ichi was always a positive guy under the disguise of a worthless piece of trash, when he found his mother in this state for the first time, his heart shattered into bits. He couldn't handle the pressure, and he collapsed, and now that he knows why she vanished on him, he couldn't forgive himself for letting her descend into madness.
Now that his mother finally got her vengeance on Monigami, and he knows how proud she might've been judging from Monigami's point of view, he tried to remain upbeat for her and live on as the child of the Sumala family. His mother slowly opened her mouth as she said something with happiness in her tone, and it sounded too familiar to him as he got startled and heartfelt for what she was about to say...
"... I... love... you... Jin'ichi..." "Huh...?" That was the breaking point, and I didn't say he got angry... He cried as he hugged his mother doll, he does it in a fashion that tries to hide the sadness in his heart. This was the first time I've ever seen Jin'ichi cry, it pained me to know that he was desperately trying to hold it in this whole time and now he's letting it all out, just the opposite of when he found out about the Phantom Thieves in the first place...
"So... does that mean I can't have the fuzzy one?" Naruki asked. "No. You can't have the fuzzy one." Doll-Hakaru sadly stated. "Oh... I see..." he hugged the fuzzy one as it made the hee-haw sound in a baby voice. I never knew Naruki could be so emotional...
Doll-Hakaru walked up to Akiyo as he took off the charm he had on this whole time. He gave it back to Akiyo as he spoke to her from the bottom of his heart. "Here you go Akiyo, I'd figured you'll need this back..." "My invincibility charm, why are you giving it back?" "What's the point of having protection, if there's nothing to protect? There are plenty of other things that need your help more than I do, promise me you'll never stop helping others no matter what..."
Akiyo began to crack on her own as she teared up upon the sight of me feeling grieved and determined in doll form: "I won't... thank you other-Hakaru, you truly are the purest doll I've ever seen..." "Thank you. If you guys are done saying goodbye, you know what to do..." Doll-Hakaru said facing me as I said with heartfelt confidence: "Don't worry, we didn't forget."
Takeyoshi adds to that statement by saying: "We'll never forget." with a heartfelt smile. Takeyoshi finally accepted Doll-Hakaru's fate, and even though he's only a child, he managed to overcome fear and despair itself to become someone who can stand up for himself. I'm going to miss myself, I never thought I would think that out loud.
We did one last hug with Doll-Hakaru while Jin'ichi was finished hugging his mother, and we caught Naruki hugging the fuzzy donkey. I can't believe we're getting so emotional because of things that aren't real, but they felt real to us and that's what it amounts to. What can we say? We came here to help a kid get even, and now we're interacting with the very things he owned. We're sensitive people, but that's what made us more human. They may not matter to anyone else, but these Cognitive things mattered to us in a way that felt so real to us...
After we hugged for a few more seconds, we finally let go as Takeyoshi wiped away his tears. After that, it was finally time that we approached an unconscious Shadow Monigami as he began to come around...
"Ow... huh? Yikes! Don't you motherfuckers have anything better to do!?" Shadow Monigami jumped and shivered a bit as Naruki shrugged and said: "Nope." "We never did." Jin'ichi added with a tone that sounded normal but more emotional, this proved he was still a bit shook from his goodbye. Shadow Monigami threw a temper tantrum as he rolled around on the floor like a baby, which he technically was...
"It's not fair! Nobody lets me drink alcohol anymore, but that's because I barely survived drinking it in the first place! My parents always knew I was becoming bad, so they tried to distract themselves from my true feelings! They literally gave me everything I wanted, but it wasn't enough for me! How come your parents aren't as obsessed as mine! I get to have everything I want, and all my life I wasn't satisfied with myself! I thought that if I could give everyone else misery, it would calm my restless soul, but it actually gives me this sick feeling that I just can't get rid of! Why aren't you trying to kill me!? What do you guys have that I don't!?"
"Takeyoshi, will you do the honors?" I let Takeyoshi approach him as he had a heart-to-heart with the former bully. Naruki was positioning to pounce just in case, but Jin'ichi stopped him by placing his hand on the liger's shoulder and shaking his head.
Takeyoshi did his best to explain what was going on with him, just like I did to Takeyoshi all those times he needed help: "Listen, your dad got into the wrong crowd and it unintentionally drove you to become spoiled right?" "Huh!?" Shadow Monigami flinched a bit as Takeyoshi started to talk some more...
"So that's why you're so mean, your parents tried to make you forget about all that, but it just made things worse for you didn't it? I'm sorry, I didn't know. Ever since you showed up, I always thought of you as an enemy, but you're not evil. All you ever wanted was a family that doesn't force their love upon you, but as far as I can tell, they won't believe anything we tell them...but there is one way you can stop all this..."
"How, how can I stop it!? They don't care what I think, they just want what's best for me! I thought I would love that idea, but it's never enough to make me love my parents!" Shadow Monigami looked stressed as Takeyoshi smiled with confidence: "Don't worry. All you have to do is tell your parents that you did the crimes behind the babysitters. In exchange, I would really like the bill you have in your jacket pocket."
"B-But, what about my mansion? What's going to happen to it!?" "Unfortunately, if you tell your parents the truth, then I'm afraid your precious mansion, and all the stuff you had in it, will vanish..." "W-What!? That's absurd! I won't give up my fortune that easily you little... frick!" He couldn't even muster up a bad word correctly, he's trying to hang on, but he can't...
"Tell me Monigami, what is more important to you? A child who gets everything he wants, at the cost of family. Or a happy family that actually cares about you, but without getting everything you want?" "W-What are you saying...?" "Okay, scratch that. Has everything you've ever gotten from your parents, what you really wanted? Think about it, the cool swimming pool in your backyard, the huge supply of money you were given, and all that gum you had in your mouth one time, was that what you really wanted...?"
"Well! I...well, kinda...? No, they were not what I wanted. All this time, I wanted my family to stop treating me like their top priority. My dad was even fired from his old job because of his obsession with me. If talking to them is really going to do the trick, then I guess I have no other choice. Takeyoshi, I'm really sorry for all those times I picked on you. I just wanted my family to stop pampering me so badly that I took it out on others. I got used to it by now, but if I have to give all that up because of some family love, I think it'll be worth it to see my family love me as their son and not their god. Takeyoshi, do you have the heart to forgive me?"
"...yeah. I can't stay mad at you forever you know, you just wanted a family that doesn't treat you like a king. If it's too much to ask, you think once you're available we can play in the backyard?" "That would be very swell, thank you so much..." Monigami said while he was crying for the family he wished he kept...
Shadow Monigami hugged Takeyoshi for a bit as he expressed his tears. I can't help but feel sorry for the guy, he had a family that was overprotective of him, and he bought into this vision that he gets whatever he wants, like a rich person does. Even though he was despicable and near unforgivable, we all knew there was more to him than meets the eye. Shortly after, Shadow Monigami handed the two thousand yen bill to Takeyoshi. Upon closer inspection, there are two faces on the dollar: one of Monigami's mother, and one of his father.
He waved goodbye crying as he began to disappear, and Takeyoshi felt confident that he helped change someone's heart. Jin'ichi gave him a thumbs up while Akiyo shed a tear or two. We were all proud of Takeyoshi for going above and beyond his childhood innocence to overcome his troubles while also helping someone else with their troubles. But of course, we couldn't just stand there and do nothing. The whole church began to shake as the whole thing started to come down, wood and glass was falling everywhere while the support for the actual mansion started to crumble too!
"Oh crap! This place is coming down!" Liger shouted. "Don't worry about us! You guys just get out of here before this whole place collapses!" Doll-Hakaru shouts as he stays behind with Jin'ichi's mother, and the dolls and jackasses. "Alright. Liger, turn into a monster truck!" I pointed to Liger as we transformed in the blink of an eye. "Well, okay, but how exactly are we going to survive something like this!?"
"Hang on tight guys, I'll get us out of this jam!" Gremlin says as we all jump into the truck. "We're all going to die..." Liger says unenthusiastically and scared. "Remember to buckle up!" Siren reminded us as Scalawag shouted from the window: "I'll never forget you Doll-Hakaru!"
Jin'ichi stepped on the gas as we all hung on for our lives! He blasted through the church door, turned left before we could re-enter the mansion, and then we fell for 2 seconds before landing on the grassy field with the petunias. We drove our way out the drive in entrance, as time was not on our side, as we looked at the toll guy who was shocked to see the Palace crumble apart. We all screamed as we blasted through the toll-gate and back the way we came!
Suddenly, before we could make it back on the road, a bright light flashed as we all were somehow back at the clubhouse. We looked at the app, which had the location unable to be looked up again. Monigami's Palace was no more, all traces of its existence were gone with the wind.
We all were exhausted from this adventure, and boy was that one hell of a ride. We all took deep breaths as we took a look at the treasure, it changed when we entered the real world and it felt similar to the paper we were holding: It was a family photo of Monigami before he was evil. His family was hugging him from both sides, the smiles they made looked pure and not forced, and he had the cutest little smile while he sat on a wooden chair.
That felt so heartwarming seeing the treasure was his family all along. Whether it was for greed or for the fact that he wants it back was completely optional, but if a kid could get warped because of a singular motive of his family, then that would make us the first people ever to cure a kid from his warped desires.
"Damn. That's one happy family the kid had, it kinda reminds me of my first family picture." Jin'ichi smiles as he passes it to the others. "Aw, that is so adorable, I sense no darkness within any of these faces." Akiyo wanted to hug it but she showed it to Takeyoshi and Naruki next.
"Wow, I never thought Monigami was so nice before all of this. He's only about a year or two old, and he looks happy." Takeyoshi smiled knowing that he just helped save a family. "Ugh. I hate pictures." Naruki looks away. Jin'ichi raises an eyebrow in response: "Um, dude? What did this picture ever do to you?"
"It brings back memories, just like you said, but for me, it's more of a flash photography camera y'know. And boy did those scumbags take pictures of me in the worst poses..." Naruki looked away, but I managed to pick up the pace again by asking: "Hey guys, do you think the change of heart worked?"
Jin'ichi nodded and said: "Only one way to find out." Naruki looked away again when he knew where this was going: "Uh, yeah. I'm just gonna wait for the party to end..." Now hang on Naruki, we may be all relieved that we made it out of there alive, but we still had one more thing to do to secure our victory, we had to confirm this with HEX.
Naruki stayed behind as usual as we ended up in the usual alleyway in Shibuya. HEX was clapping and laughing upon our arrival, which felt unsettling and yet satisfying. I don't know, his voice when he laughs is quite broken, but he also somehow knew that we did the right thing too. I'm sure we'll get used to it, I think...
"Hahahah... well done Phantom Crusaders." "What happened back there? Is Monigami okay?" I asked. "Oh he's fine, you've successfully changed his heart. And now he's going to tell his parents something besides petty lies..." HEX responded as he expressed his delight in the same voice that confused us all at first. We did it, we actually pulled off something that experts like the Phantom Thieves could do, and knowing that just made me feel happy inside.
"Heh. It's all thanks to little Takeyoshi that we managed to defeat him." Jin'ichi patted on Takeyoshi's back like he meant something special to us, and he did. "Aw shucks, I only dropped whales on people's heads!" The kid said sarcastically as Akiyo expressed how proud she was of him in her own calm way: "I'm just so proud of the way you handled your own arch enemy, we have taught him everything we knew."
"Yeah! That was awesome, but now I miss Doll-Hakaru..." Takeyoshi almost got sad again as HEX, surprisingly cheered him up: "Don't worry, he'll always be in your heart. Never give up on your dreams young one, and let your imagination run wild, you might be surprised with the fun you'll have with this magical world." "Thanks." Takeyoshi approached him for a hug, but he refused the hug by putting his hand out in front of him.
"So... now that we've saved a child from nearly framing me... now what?" I couldn't help but wonder what comes next for the Phantom Crusaders, but then HEX had to remind me that I still have a life to live: "Oh relax Hero, you don't always have to be a Phantom Thief 24/7. Don't you guys have real life to take care of?"
"*Gasp* Oh crap my exams!" That's right! This week is the week of my exams, and I almost forgot to study up! But Jin'ichi couldn't let me freak out over something like this as he spoke his usual happy-go-lucky attitude: "Don't worry about it yet Harry, we changed a lot just now old pal. We might as well celebrate our achievement with a banger!"
Takeyoshi raised his hand and jumped up and down with glee: "Or a burger! Can we go to Big Bang Burger? I love that place!" "You and me both kid, maybe you can bring your friends over." Jin'ichi pointed with both fingers at Takeyoshi and then the kid looked at me and said: "And Junko! Don't forget your sister!" I then tell him while being a bit concerned about my sister and her being around people she met two days ago: "I don't know, I haven't exactly brought my sister into a boy's celebration before..."
"Don't worry about it, I've hung out with you boys for so long I've pretty much gotten used to your scent." Akiyo states as Jin'ichi looks at her while keeping that quirky smile on his face: "What? My scent?" He shrugged. "Yes! I have air fresheners in my house so it evens out." Akiyo kept a straight face the whole time, I'm surprised she noticed that some of us stank like crazy. And that's when Jin'ichi sniffed his armpit and then shrugged it off again: "Sure whatever. Come on Harry, every man doesn't get the feeling of satisfaction all the time. Let's have some fun knowing that Monigami's heart has changed!"
"Well... when you put it that way, I guess one little celebration wouldn't hurt." I say a bit nervous, it's been a while since my last big celebration with friends, even the 'party' me and Jin'ichi had after Kamoshida atoned for his crimes wasn't that very energetic compared to what happened now.
"Can we also bring Naruki?" Takeyoshi asked. "Nah, he's not a party person anyway. Also, who would want to watch a liger eat burgers?" Jin'ichi said while having this grin that literally spells 'No worries!' "Good point. Make sure to give him some when you get home!" "Don't worry Takeyoshi my boy, I've got this down."
"Yeah, are you coming HEX?" I ask as his mood stiffened up again as he expressed a small fraction of interest, but he had other plans: "No. I have business with the Phantom Thieves to take care of. You guys just focus on your little party. In fact, you guys can have the next week off, I'll give you your next mission a week from now. Keep up the good work, and soon you'll become just like the Phantom Thieves."
"Not just like them, I'll do my best to make sure that everyone, no matter who they are, gets the help they needed!" I say with a bright confident smile, HEX looked at his handheld purplish phone as he said: "I wish you all the best of luck, on the first steps of your new life."
The feeling I'm getting now was the feeling that I helped somebody. This was the most satisfying feeling I've ever felt. The mere thought of saving someone as a superhero has made me feel just like one! It makes me want to help out even more people, and it's just the kind of feeling I'm getting now. In fact, once HEX gives us his next assignment, we'll be readier than ever to answer the call!
Although, just when I felt sure of myself, the second I left the alleyway I saw a huge blue door with the wardens from my dreams right next to it. Wait, they're real!? Oh my gosh, I would be panicking right now, but apparently I don't want to upset the others, so I told them I'll meet them there after I clarify some things with HEX. One of the wardens walked up to me and looked at me with scorn in their eye, it reminded me of Takeyoshi when he looked at Monigami with anger and that scared me!
"Nice to meet you in the real world Hakaru." Justine said in her usual calm manner. "What are you two doing here? If it's about this rehabilitation nonsense, count me out, I don't want to get involved in your nonsense after I've changed someone's heart." I was still a bit angry when they tried to force destiny upon me twice, but still, I felt like these two kept targeting me for a reason...
"Hold on, you already changed someone's heart!?" Caroline shouted as she entered a position where she was threatening to beat me up, but I held my own against them: "Yeah? So what!? I am perfectly capable of doing things my own way thank you!" I shouted in frustration. Caroline was about to let me have it before her twin stopped her: "Caroline, we cannot change his mind. Now that he has successfully changed someone's heart, even without our master's help, there's no going back to the life he once lived."
Caroline just looked away from me, as if she knew I couldn't be stopped. "Hmm... you may be right Justine. Our master recently got word of this unexpected change of heart, and he said it was fine as long as it doesn't interfere with the rehabilitation of the trickster." Caroline held herself back as Justine looked at me with pity: "But still, we couldn't help but notice your rebellious spirit. You've already gathered supporters, mastered the art of Palace infiltration, and even got to experience the root of the human subconscious all in the span of a week."
"I don't know about you, but either he's got dumb luck, or something entirely different." Dumb luck she says...? You don't have to rub it in Caroline, it was never dumb luck. Everything just sorta happened and I went along with it from the start as I got more curious after every visit.
I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't work up the nerve to tell her. "Look... I can't deal with you guys now, being in that cage back there gave me claustrophobia. And then I somehow managed to suck it up the whole time on my second visit only to find you still wanted my help. I've got problems of my own to deal with now, so if you don't mind, I don't want your help, I've already got my friends to support me..."
I was about to walk off as Justine says something cryptic: "We know you do not wish for our assistance, and we understand you can't stand being in the presence of our master, but we have to do something about this mission you have been assigned to before you fall to ruin." "You two don't understand, whatever this 'ruin' might be, I won't end up going there no matter what happens, alright?" I say a bit pained about their cryptic nature. The two girls began talking again as they faced me as Justine moved her arm towards the door...
"That... may be the case for you. You seem lost, and yet, I have a feeling that this adventure you'll be embarking will change you for the better." "Even if this hacker of yours can't be trusted, and even though you don't require our own services, the least we can do is provide you with someone who can steer you on the right track. That way, you can still have your adventure, and we'll be out of your hair forever." I got confused thinking that they might send out something strange... "Does this someone have a long nose?"
"No." Justine quickly and calmly said. "Your power is like the trickster's, but it's not entirely accurate to his own power." Caroline added. "While he has the ability to call to the Shadows and make them his own, you can only use a fraction of your true power through the Persona Hercules." "And since Justine and I can't be of any use to you, we'll just give you someone who can do something about you." "Think of him as your servant, he'll accompany you during your visits into the altered Metaverse, but he'll only appear for you when you are alone."
"That's not creepy at all... but what can he do?" I asked the two as Caroline fills me in on how he's going to help me: "Well it's simple. While we execute other Personas and turn them into stronger Personas, the servant will provide special skill cards that give your Persona new skills you'll need in battle." "But to gain access to these skill cards, you must've already gotten rid of a technique that you absorbed from an enemy Shadow. He will keep every skill you have archived and you can use them whenever you wish." Justine said stating the fact.
"Basically, he's like your personal butler, but that doesn't mean he'll help you with everything, just anything that relates to your Persona." Caroline says while I scratched my head. "For instance, like what?" I asked Justine, she's calmer, but even she couldn't help but frown upon me saying that: "You can use the aforementioned skill cards, summon Shadows to battle and obtain their power, and through his guidance, you will learn anything important you need to remember about the Cognitive World. If you stick to your confidants, then you'll gain new experiences all the time."
"Huh. That actually sounds kinda neat." I say a bit wowed since a personal butler might be just what we needed for navigating future Palaces. Caroline looks at me again as she clearly doesn't want me to abuse this opportunity: "Don't expect him to do everything you want him to do, not even he knows why there's a second Mementos, so he's not exactly a 'how to do' book." "Although he'll be guiding you throughout your adventures, unlike us, he can't enter the real world. So expect him to arrive at the next Palace you'll visit."
"Okay! What about you guys?" I ask absentmindedly as I was too distracted with thoughts of me having a personal butler. Caroline then says with scorn: "Oh, we know exactly what to do..." "You've said it yourself: 'Leave me alone, and let me do my job.' Our services will no longer be available to you. You've lost your chance at rehabilitation, so this will be our parting gift." Justine grieved, oh man... I didn't mean to make them upset or anything, I was just too afraid to trust something in my dreams, but now that it's real, their emotions hit harder than they did before...
"At least you have that worthless servant, that'll remind you how much you could've helped us back then! You were even going to be the trickster for all I know!" Caroline lashed out in anger as I stood there a bit afraid and worrisome: "H-Hey, wai-" "But alas, we overestimated you. You were never up to the challenge back then, and your fear prevented you from becoming the true chosen one. Perhaps it was never meant to be..." Justine said as she reached for the doorknob on the big blue door.
"I hope you're happy with yourself! Besides, we have business of our own to take care of Yumasu, so if you don't mind, let's never meet up again. If you are going to be this stupid about the Cognitive World, then I hope you rot in your cell for all eternity inmate!" Caroline said as she entered the door and I stood there shocked at her anger: "You didn't have to get that angry at me! I-I never thought you two were actually real!"
"We won't be real for much longer. I can understand her rage, and deep down inside, I felt anger for you as well. You were too afraid to do what was right back then, and when we offered you a second chance, you rejected it in favor of a mortal who stole the power to rebel for himself. Do you not understand why we wanted to help you? Sure our methods seemed a bit cryptic to you, but even if you had gone along with our plan, you wouldn't have lasted long down that path. The reason we gave you the servant was because he too felt unsure of our motives for quite a while. This is our last request to you, and we cannot take no for an answer anymore. As the servant helps you on your journey, remember to always help him too, he needs it. And although we will never meet again, I still wished that you've gotten to know our master better. He was planning to promise a great reward to the trickster if things went his way, but I guess the baton had been passed to someone else. And as warden of the Velvet Room, it is my duty to make sure his rehabilitation runs smoothly. Farewell, Hakaru Yumasu..."
And just like that, she entered the blue door as it shut on its own and disappeared forever. I can't believe it, was this really my last encounter with the Velvet Room girls? I really didn't want them to send me on a guilt trip, but they did and now I'm starting to feel sorry for them... "Hey Harry! Your order is getting cold!!" It was Jin'ichi, he wanted me to come in to eat. I mean, I want to come in and celebrate, but if the Velvet Room is really gone... But then again, I never miss the opportunity to have fun, so what the heck? I'll probably think about the Velvet Room again when I meet the butler, but that's like a week from now, I have more important things to take care of...
And so, from this day on, my goal became clear: I will help the world become a safer place to live, while simultaneously helping people out both weak and powerful. The weak deserve all the pity in the world, but even the worst people deserve a second chance. This is the game of life I'm playing, and I intend to stick to it until the very end.
My name is Hakaru Yumasu, and I am a Phantom Crusader.