It's been a while since I've uploaded anything to this account. Been busy with real life, and original writing projects. But here I am, with another story. This is a continuation of sorts of Yukiko's Ugly Truth (although I never finished that story), or a 'retelling', if you prefer. Either way, I wanted to continue the story, but I figured it best to give it a kick start with a fresh idea, instead of trying to return to the old story.
Certain things in this story are written/will be written specifically to dispel some misconceptions. For example, I immediately begin this story by tossing out the notion of this being a "fetish-y" thing, and making it clear that Ann doesn't allow it to be used that way either, as it's not what any of this is about. Stuff like that, which are persistent misconceptions about how I feel, inspired me to write this story.
It had been a routine day for Ann. As routine as any day for her was, that is. She had woken up, as per usual, and gone to school as per usual. She had struggled to keep control of her desire to hurt ugly people as per usual, while exerting her position at school.
She was doing what she did almost every day—picking on that one fat ugly bitch that she was annoyed at seeing.
"Hah! Suck it up, bitch!"
She was holding her head down the toilet, forcing it into the pan water. A common and cliched technique for bullying, but effective, nevertheless. Behind her, several other girls and a few guys were stood there, watching, and applauding Ann on.
"Man, Ann-san, you have no shame, huh?" muses a girl.
"Damn, wish she'd do that to me…" exclaims one of the guys.
" Like hell," Ann replies, while continuing to force the uggo's head down, "I only do this to ugly fucks who deserve it…-" she pauses, and then raises a brow, as what the guy said sinks into her head. "…and who don't want it, incidentally."
"Auw—wait, are you saying I'm handsome…?!"
Ann brings the uggo's head up—
"You had enough yet, you pigshit?"
The uggo chokes and gasps for air. Ann lets go of her, then stands up—she towers over the fatso with her hands on her hips.
"Anyway, that'll teach you for trying to talk to me while I was eating," Ann says, with a flick of her pigtail, "next time, maybe go slit your throat instead, or something. Stupid fucking pigshit."
The uggo stands up, and turns around—she tries launching for Ann, but Ann just steps aside of the slow fatso, and allows her to tumble to the ground, in an undignified manner.
Ann shakes her head, then kneels down, next to her.
"…When are you going to do what we all want out of you, and hang yourself?"
As she glares at the uggo, the uggo begins to tear up—she looks like she's broken. Well, that's because she is broken. Ann relentlessly treats her like this every day—she doesn't stop, doesn't give her room to breathe.
"…I will…I-I'm sorry…"
The people around Ann laugh at the uggo's humiliation.
"Seriously, Ann is amazing…Like, all the appeal, all the charm…I'm so honoured to be one of the people she doesn't bully…!"
Ann looks around herself, at all of her adoring fanboys and fangirls—and smiles to herself. This is the result of her influence as Panther. Thanks to her work as that thief, stealing the joy of ugly people across the country, Ann was influencing the populous to think like they should think; to see this treatment of ugly scum as a necessity.
It was perfect; her perfect life allowed her to co-exist as a model of exceptional beauty, and as the queen of her school, who stepped on the faces of all the uggos around her. She was truly living the very best of lives, and it was all thanks to the opportunity she had been afforded to her by her god. That wonderful god of the Purgatory world, who had opened her mind, and given her her current life.
"Hey, Ann-san! Do you want to hang out or something after school?"
One of the girls—a particularly pretty girl with long black hair, approached Ann. Ann turns to her, and nods.
"Hmm, well…"
Ann couldn't agree to that, for one particularly solid reason. She already had plans—rather important plans.
"Sorry, I'm already kinda booked up."
"Auw, that's too bad…" the girl replies, with a sigh, "I wanted to get tips on how to convince fat girls to cut themselves."
Ann couldn't help but raise her brow.
"…Damn, that's messed up, you know?"
"Is it?"
The girl's casual response, with that tilt of her head, rather pleased Ann.
This was proof, if it was ever needed, that her work as the Panther was having an effect. The people of this school were beginning to embrace their desire to suppress ugliness by any means necessary.
"Well, not that I'm complaining. I'm just saying."
"…Well, actually, I guess it is a little bit, you know…tacky to do something like that…" replies the girl, with a scratch of her neck.
"Hmm…but is it, though…?"
Ann glares into the girl's eyes—As she does so, she begins to focus intensely on getting her influence across. Invisible to anyone else, around Ann, a pink aura begins to form—it flares up, as though sentient, and begins to bind the girl in chains.
"You'll…make sure girls without the right bodies understand they need pain, right?"
"…Y-Yes…" the girl says, with a nod. Her tone of voice is almost…robotic, as she replies. "I'll…bully them, whenever I get the chance. I'll supress…their happiness."
"Good."
Ann smirks, then casually rubs a finger across her lips.
Her power was almost too extreme—too 'OP' and in need of 'nerfing', as a certain old friend of hers might have said. But it was something she always used to her advantage. On top of her work as the Panther, Ann also had her aura of beauty—it was a power gifted to her by the Purgatory World where she was first 'formed' into her current self.
With it, she could influence others into following her creed. Of course, people could resist it, if they really wanted to, but most didn't have the will. Ann was honestly impressed with how much that uggo bitch crying on the ground had resisted her continued attempts to get her to kill herself.
She wasn't 100% on how it worked, even now—but she was sure that if she broke that goblin's resolve enough, eventually her influence would work. That was her theory anyway. Due to that, she had been relentlessly bullying her whenever she got the chance.
…
After saying her goodbyes, and giving the uggo she had been bullying one final kick for good measure, Ann had left the restroom. As she wandered down the hall, she was the centre of everyone's attention; she was hugely popular, after all.
She was beautiful, she was influential, and she was the apple of everyone's eye. All the boys wanted her, all the girls wanted to be her, and everyone respected her. All the beautiful people followed her and her creed, and all the uggos feared her and her heel. Ann was the perfect beauty, with the perfect grip on beauty—no longer was she chained down by the whims of ugly people.
Well, in theory.
Although, there were still a few cracks here and there. People who refused to be swayed, people who tried to push back against Ann and her grip over the school. Ugly people who thought it wasn't fair, ugly people who used her as fuel for some sort of bizarre fetish, beautiful people who were still tainted from their sickening ugly acceptance…
But Ann fought against that, with everything that she had. As the Panther, she continued to corrode away at the 'ugly acceptance' that would appear, and in her ordinary life, Ann would influence the masses with her powers, and her influences in the hierarchy of the school, as well as via her work as a model.
Ann…truly had a perfect life.
So far flung from how she once used to be—so far flung from a weak girl who couldn't see the problem staring her right in the face; the problem with accepting ugly looking people as human beings, the value of not accepting that they are a valid part of society.
...
After leaving the school grounds, Ann found herself checking her phone.
"(Hmm…well, I suppose I should-)"
As she glanced up from it, she suddenly stopped walking—the sight before her eyes left her speechless.
"W-What the…"
In a flash Ann's surroundings had suddenly changed—it wasn't like the had warped, or anything. It was more like they had just…changed. Like she had walked from one set to another, within an instant.
She had previously been walking through the streets of the city—a buzzling place, full of many people of all types. But within a flash, she had found herself on some sort of riverbank…
And it wasn't just the location that had changed. It was also the time of day—it had been the middle of the afternoon, just before sunset, but now it was the middle of the night.
Even stranger still, though was that she was now, for some reason, wearing her red Panther suit, complete with the mask over her face.
"…Okaaaay, this is weird…"
"(Well, if weird things happen, it's normally a sure-fire bet that they're involved.)"
That, of course, being the 'god' who had orchestrated Ann's current life; the one who had given her her new life, and who had ruled over the Purgatory World.
"Hey! You there? If you are, say something, okay?"
…
No response.
"Damn."
"(Well, now what? I suppose I should just-)"
"Wow, what a gorgeous young lady!"
"Ack!"
A voice suddenly calls out. It echoes from every location in the environment; as though it originates from nowhere, and yet, also from everywhere.
"W-Who…the hell are you…?"
No, more important than that…
"…Gorgeous, huh? Well, thanks for noticing the obvious…" Ann says, while flicking her pigtail. She stands with a hand on her hip. "So, er…what's this all about? You know I have plans, yeah?"
"…Gorgeous and airheaded, it seems.
Man, what a lax response for someone dragged to a weird world.
Normally people are putting up a fuss like babies."
Ann groans.
"Yeah, well, I'm kinda used to 'weird worlds'," she says, while folding her arms. "So just hurry it up, and tell me what this is about. You're clearly not the usual guy, that's for sure."
For starters, this voice was obviously female, whereas the usual voice of her 'God' was indistinct in gender. She also had much more noticeable emotion, compared to the usual monotone voice she was used to.
For all intent-and-purposes, this voice sounded like an 'ordinary' woman's voice.
"Er, the 'usual guy'? Yeah, sorry, I have NO clue what you're on about.
But I guess you're used to this kinda thing, so that's good.
This can go a lot quicker, then, I guess! So, let's get this Stamp Collecting underway!"
…
Despite her calm response, on the inside Ann was wondering if she had taken something and was on a weird trip. Even by the standards that she was used to, this seemed especially out of nowhere.
"Er…did you say…stamp collecting…?"
"Yes indeedy! STAMP COLLECTING! Ain't that exciting?!"
"About as exciting as reading fucking Shakespeare. Are you serious? You dragged me here to collect stamps?"
Ann had to assume this was some sort of joke. It seemed too ridiculous to be true.
"Hey, come on, don't say it like that! Where's your passion for stamp collecting?!"
"I don't have a damn passion for STAMP COLLECTING."
Ann sighs.
"About the only thing I do care about is beauty, and modelling."
"Oooh, is that so…Well, in that case, I guess you might not have the mental capacity to win this here competition…"
Ann scoffs.
"Excuse me? You want to try saying that while you're not hiding away, dumbass?"
"Oh, so you ARE passionate about collecting those stamps! Wonderful!"
"(Augh. Guess I walked right into that one.)"
"Okay, so, you pretty little model you, look down at your there right hand!
You see the card in it?"
Ann frowns. She looks down at her hand, which she had previously been holding her phone in—and sure enough, there's something that she's clasping between her fingers.
"W-When did I get this…?"
"(And what the hell did you do to my phone?! That cost me a pretty penny, you know!)"
She brings it close to her face and has a good look at it. It's a white card, with five empty boxes on it. The boxes are aligned akin to a five face on a die.
"…What's this, then?"
"That there is your card! Your card…for stamp collecting!"
This…weird voice person was already beginning to piss off Ann. Her tone of voice was WAY too cheerful and enthusiastic about this whole thing.
"All you need to do is collect five of those there stamps on your card, and you'll be able to reach the end goal!"
"…And why should I even bother with such an asinine thing?"
"Oh, there's just the small matter of, you know…
That if you don't, you'll be trapped in this world for all eternity. So you know.
If you want to return home, you'll need a card with five stamps on it!
Oh, and the first person to actually get to the goal will win a great power!"
Ann blinks.
"So…I'm competing against people, huh?"
"That's RIGHT! This world is full of people…people, all eager to collect their stamps!"
"…Yeah, this is bullshit."
Then, as casually as can be, rips up the card.
"Eh?! HEY, what the heck—You idiot, that card was your only ticket home…!"
"Wrong. I'll just wait until someone else has gotten the stamps, then steal their card."
"Eh?! Eh?! What the?! You…you'd be THAT immoral?! Do you have no respect for the art of stamp collecting…?! And what about the great power?!"
Ann waves her hand dismissively.
"Don't need it. I've already got so much power it's kinda OP already."
"Damn…Seriously, you've got some balls, don't you?"
"(Not exactly the wording I'd use, but sure.)"
"Well, technically there's nothing in the rules against this, but, like…seriously. I didn't think anyone'd be this damn evil to think to do something so underhanded."
"I ain't evil," Ann replies, "I just know how to get what I want. And I deserve it, being as gorgeous as I am."
"I see you haven't changed a bit…Ann."
A voice suddenly calls out—a voice that Ann finds entirely too familiar.
"W-What?"
She turns around—
"Y…-You…!"
Standing there is a girl—a rather hideous looking girl with an unhealthy looking figure, and deformities at scar her face, turning it into a face fitting for a subhuman creature.
"Long time no see, Ann."
The girl smiles lightly at Ann—
"I…I don't suppose you've seen Yukiko, or Chie, around here, have you…?" she asks, with an awkward chuckle.
"(Miriam…Kobuta…)"
The hideous freak who had infested Inaba; that disgusting subhuman who had been killed by Ann's hands, only to then get brought back from the grave.
Ann grits her teeth, and immediately charges over to Miriam—the latter girl takes half a step back.
"What the hell are you doing here, goblin?!"
"G-Gah, w-wait…!"
Ann stops a few steps short, and folds her arms. She glares at Miriam, looking at her from down her nose.
"Don't tell me…you've been brought here for this stamp collecting bullshit as well?"
"E-Eh…w-well, yeah…"
"Damn. Hey, voice woman person, what's the big deal making me put up with this freak?"
Miriam sighs.
"I-I was going to ask which of the Anns you are, but…you know, never mind, I think I can work it out myself now…"
'Which of the Anns'…
That caused a bile to rise within Ann's gut.
There was only one Ann, in her mind—and that was herself. She…was the truth of Ann Takamaki. She tried to forget all the time about the fact that there was another her out there in the past—the soft, disgusting version of herself, who would treat ugly people with 'respect'.
"A-Anyway, erm…I kinda got separated from the rest of the team, so…"
Ann scoffs, and waves a hand at Miriam, dismissively.
"You say that like I should care. I hope they never find you, and you remain separated forever. It'd be what you fucking deserve."
"…Erm…so, you haven't…changed much, I see…"
Ann shrugs.
"If by change you mean become a filthy goblin sympathiser, then no, I haven't."
She looks at Miriam with a raised brow.
"And I see you're still as hideous as ever, huh, you little pigshit."
Miriam sighs and rubs her arm.
"…Come on Ann, why do we have to butt heads? We're both victims this time, so let's just—"
"Oh, shut it."
Ann glares at Miriam.
"You think I'll ever see you as anything but a little freak? You're just a subhuman, you damn cunt."
Ann couldn't see her as anything else—since the moment she saw Miriam, and the disgusting 'friendships' she had formed with Yukiko Amagi, the pretty girl of Inaba, Ann had grown a deep-rooted disgust for her and everything she stood for.
Miriam's existence was wrong. It was a putrid, rotten mistake.
"Okay, I can kinda see the flames of a fight flaring up here, so…
You know, in this particular tournament there's no rules governing fights, so go to town."
"A fight, huh…?"
Ann shakes her head.
"No, I'm not interested in fighting her at all."
Miriam scratches her cheek.
"Er…really…?"
"Sure. I don't want to fight you…I want to fucking murder you, Miriam Kobuta."
…
"WHOA WHOA, okay, fighting is one thing, but no killing—"
"Stay out of this," Ann bluntly commands to the voice. "This is between me and this pigshit here. I have a LOT of beef with this…this fucking abortion!"
Miriam looks at Ann, sadly.
"Ann…why…? I don't see the point in being so angry at each other anymore…"
"Oh, there's plenty of point to it! Like, you know, how fucking ugly you are!"
As she speaks, Ann's pink aura suddenly flares up around her—upon seeing it, Miriam takes half a step back, and her hand instinctively goes down to her side.
"I missed my chance to wipe you out all the way back then!" Ann yells out, "and now, I'm going to take the fucking opportunity while it's right in front of me!"
"L-Listen, Ann, I don't want to fight you…!" Miriam pleads, "p-please…! I just want us to get along—"
"I don't want to get along with you, you worthless goblin!"
"D-Damn, what the hell is this power? It's like she's going Super Saiyan!"
"This is my power of beauty!" Ann exclaims, "my power…to eradicate ugly looking scum like her!"
"Ann…why do you have to do this…?" Miriam asks, "I just want us to get along. Please…"
"For the last time! I'll NEVER get along with an ugly looking abortion like you!"
As Ann's aura begins to convulse with intensity, Miriam closes her eyes, and gulps. Realising she has no choice but to defend herself. She reaches to her side and pulls out something from her pocket. It looks like a knife of some kind—which is confirmed, when Miriam presses a button, causing a blade to shoot out the end.
"Hah! A knife? Seriously?"
She cackles.
"Is that all you've got?"
Miriam looks down at the knife, and then takes in a breath.
"…Ann…you know I'm a Persona user…right?"
Ann raises a brow, and puts a hand onto her hip.
"So I was told. But I still don't believe that shit. Never even saw you summon one with my own eyes, did I?"
Miriam nods.
"That's because I was having difficulty doing it…" she says, "I couldn't summon my persona as easily as the others could, for some reason."
"Oh, boo-fucking-hoo for you," Ann mocks, "must suck to be so fucking shit at literally everything. Shit looks, shit charisma, shit presence…are you good for anything?"
"Actually…Yes."
Miriam closes her eyes.
"You see, I'm good…at using my head," she continues, "so I began to wonder…if there might be a way to more easily summon my persona. I began to think about why I couldn't do it…"
"Let me guess…the answer was because you're an ugly waste of life?"
Miriam shakes her head.
"No. The answer was…because I didn't have courage."
"Courage?"
"Yes…But that's when someone gave me an idea."
The Investigation Team had contact with a particular woman—Mitsuru Kirijo, the head of the Kirijo Group. It was through this connection that they had discovered a particular trick to summoning a persona. There was, once upon a time, a team of Persona users who all used this trick when summoning their personas for battle. By providing the team with prop guns and telling them that the guns had the power to summon their personas, they were able to summon their personas by pretending to shoot themselves in the head. It was a placebo effect of sorts—the guns didn't do anything. All it did was provide a certain type of reaction; the belief that the guns work…and the fear that comes from firing a gun at oneself.
"…So what the hell's your damn point?" Ann asks, clearly annoyed by Miriam's long rambling explanation.
"I…I get my courage by facing my death," Miriam replies. "When I'm reminded of what I'd be putting my friends through if I died…"
Miriam slowly begins to raise the knife-like object upwards, towards her own throat.
"…It makes me realise how much I need to fight."
With the knife pressed to her own throat, Miriam closes her eyes…
"…Even if that means fighting against you, Ann. I'll fight for my right to stay alive."
Ann's eyes widen—
"(No, she…she couldn't possibly…!)"
"…Persona…!"
Miriam presses the knife deep against the skin of her throat, as she yells out—
A light begins to swirl around the girl, as a giant figure forms above her. The figure is indistinct, at first, but soon takes shape into a humanoid shape. With a large iron hammer in it's grasp, the figure takes the form of a large woman, with one half of her face covered up by a large patch that runs around her head. Her hair is red, alongside her one eye, as though they're straight from the fires of hades themselves.
"This is my Persona…Hephaestus!"
"W-What…?!"
Ann grits her teeth.
"Grrr!"
"(How the hell can—how can someone like her be a fucking persona user…?!)"
The very idea sickened Ann, to the point where she couldn't control her emotions—it caused her aura of pink to fluctuate out of control, and before she even realised it, arms were already flying out towards Miriam.
Miriam's Persona suddenly swatted them away with swings of it's hammer, however.
"Gaaaugh!"
Ann cries out in frustration—
"Fuck you! You fucking cunt! Just DIE!"
Ann concentrates, focusing on using all her energy to attack Miriam—
"DIE!"
The aura bursts forward, with a strong energy—However the persona simply shields Miriam with its body. After taking the brunt of the energy, Ann is knocked back a little, and the persona takes the chance to rush in—
It tries attacking Ann, but arms of pink manage to wrap itself around the Persona, causing it to become entangled and helpless.
"Hah!"
As the Persona struggles to get itself free, Miriam collapses onto one knee—and the Persona dissolves away.
"Is that all you have, huh?!" Ann spits out, "that was pathetic!"
Miriam grimaces. She still wasn't fully used to using her persona, and it took a lot out of her. Plus, Ann's power…it was overwhelming. It seemed to have become stronger since last time, and it was "OP" enough as it was back then.
It seemed almost impossible to fight against it…
Even so, Miriam knew she couldn't give up. So as Ann got ready to attack her again, she raised her knife back to her throat.
"Persona…!"
Hephaestus was summoned just in time to prevent the pink-arms from getting near Miriam. Although their strength alone was enough to knock both Hephaestus and Miriam backwards.
"Nnngh…!"
"Just give it up, goblin!" Ann yells, "you're only prolonging the inevitable!"
"A-Ann…! Please, stop this…!" Miriam yells back, "I don't want to hurt you…! We don't have to fight!"
"Hah, this isn't a fight!" Ann spits back, "this is me murdering you, you fuck!"
Ann attacks Miriam again with her power—despite the persona's attempts to block it, it eventually breaks through, causing Hephaestus to shatter into pieces. Miriam is sent flying, only stopping when she crashes into a wall with her back.
"Nnnngh!"
Ann smirks, as Miriam lay hapless and injured on the ground.
That little goblin never stood a damn chance. Not against this version of Ann—this Ann who had been gifted supreme power thanks to her flawless beauty.
Ann casually struts over to Miriam and kneels next to her. Ann raises her hand to her own mask, and rips it off, before throwing it to the floor. She can't be asked wearing it anymore—she wants Miriam to see her raw emotions. The raw hatred that she feels right now, towards her very being.
" Are you ready to stop resisting this yet…you fucking mistake?"
Miriam grimaces, as she tries to stand up—
"Nngh…"
"Just admit it, Miriam Kobuta…admit that you don't deserve to exist, let alone be happy…!"
"…Ann…I'm so sorry…"
Miriam weakly raises her knife, and aims it at Ann.
"I'm sorry that you're so hateful…that this is your only reason for living…"
"Oh shut your fucking mouth," Ann replies, "you fucking goblin. How DARE you judge me, huh?!"
"Ann…I don't hate you."
"Oh look," Ann spits back, "more abusive fucking talk, masquerading as 'kindness'."
That's all ugly people had; that's all ANY of them seemed to have. Their abusive manipulation.
Their kindness wasn't actually 'worth'-no, every single ounce of their so-called kindness was just a way for them to crawl into the lives of others, and suck them and their value dry with their useless fucking life.
"I…I don't want to hate you. I want to help you."
"Grrrrr…! Shut the FUCK UP!"
Ann launches for Miriam, but Miriam dodges out of the way—the two end up swapping positions.
"You must know how it feels!" Miriam exclaims, "you have to know how it feels to be judged by your outta skin alone!"
"Don't try and act like we've been through similar things! You and me are nothing alike!"
Miriam shakes her head.
"I don't think that's true. I think we have more in common than you realise."
"I HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH A WORTHLESS PIGSHIT ABORTION LIKE YOU!"
"You've been hurt over your looks, right?"
"Grrrrr…!"
Ann doesn't need to answer. Miriam knows the truth already. Even so, her question seems to hit something of a sensitive spot for Ann.
"I feel sorry for you, Ann," Miriam says, sadly, "if I could somehow help you, I would, in a flash. I don't want to see you get abused for something like that. It's not right."
"Stop it you abusive, gaslighting, miserable, filthy freak...!" Ann rants back at her, "stop with this nonsense! Stop hurting people with your fucking existence!"
"I can't help it," Miriam replies back, calmly. "I know you don't like me, but…"
She shakes her head, and smiles at Ann. Although Ann can see beyond it-she can tell, just from how that face was deformed, that it held nothing sincere or 'kind'. It was nothing but a shell, pretending to be a 'decent human being'
"I…I would do everything I can to help you…if someone wanted to hurt you for the same reason…"
"The same reason…?"
Ann begins to cackle. It's a slow, dry chuckle, that soon gives way into manic laughter.
"The same reason? Don't make me laugh! You'll never understand the reason I was abused!
Miriam pauses for a moment and thinks about how to respond.
"…Maybe you're right."
Her smile fades into a sad expression.
"I can't know how hard it is to be sexually abused…"
"OF COURSE YOU CAN'T! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD SEXUALLY ABUSE YOU?!"
"i, er, don't think anyone wants to be sexually abused, though..."
Miriam's retort throws Ann off.
"H-Huh?"
"No one wants that," Miriam continues to rant, "anyone who does that to someone is horrible, and anyone who has been through that…I feel bad for them! Because it's wrong! It's so damn wrong!"
…
An awkward silence follows. Ann isn't sure what to say—it's not like she can deny what she's saying is true. And yet...
Ann knows. She knows where it comes from-she knows it's being said by someone who looks so wrong. That's why it annoys her-it angers her to her very core.
That someone as ugly and deformed was using this 'nice langague' to crawl into her heart, and manipulate it...that's the very definition of 'abuse'.
"I…I don't care what you think of me!" Miriam continues, "i-if you hate me, if you want me to suffer and die, then fine! But…b-but…for your own sake, please, don't hate yourself!"
"H-Hate…myself…?"
Ann growls.
"I don't hate myself!"
"…I…I'm sorry, Ann…but I don't believe that for a second…"
She shakes her head.
"Thinking you'd have no value without your physical beauty…Not finding value in yourself, as a person beyond that…"
More of the manipulation...more of the lies...
"Please, Ann, you…you're more than just a pretty face."
"Of course I am! But you're not even a pretty face! You're fucking nothing!"
Miriam rubs her arm, and sighs.
"Do you think you'd be nothing if you weren't pretty?"
Ann takes half a step back, and grimaces.
"Grrr…! T-That's…!"
"If you feel that way, then that's just awful. So, please—"
"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!" Ann rants, "you're just trying to fucking confuse me! You're not as pretty as I am, so you…you just have to sprout this bullshit to feel better about yourself! That's all this is!"
"…You're right that I'm not as pretty as you," Miriam admits. "But I don't dislike you for that. I think it's great. I mean, being a model is seriously an amazing thing."
Ann stares pointedly at Miriam, with a raised brow as she speaks.
"I…I want to support you as a model, while…while being myself. I want to support your goals…while being someone you can rely on to help you, if you ever needed it…"
Miriam locks sight with Ann, and takes in a breath.
"Is that…really such a bad thing…? We're all different…we're all humans, with different ambitions. Why is it so bad for us to just be cordial to each other…?"
Ann growls—the pink aura around her body begins to surge—
"Fuck…you…" she mutters. "You…I'll never…ever be cordial with you. You are everything that is wrong with this world…!"
As she speaks, Ann's pink aura begins to swirl around her as long, electric-looking arms.
"Then…tell me, Ann…what IS wrong with the world, in your opinion…?"
"isn't that obvious?!"
She points towards Miriam.
"Its people like you!" she passionately proclaims, "ugly freaks who act like they share our pain! Our experiences!"
"I don't think I share your pain. I just—"
"You just get through life by misappropriating it all for yourself!"
The arms around Ann suddenly begin to crackle, as though becoming more sentient. Miriam swallows down a lump in her throat—she aims her knife at Ann, then closes her eyes.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, Ann. I just…want to help. I want you to find value beyond your appearance. I think that's important."
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S WRONG! THAT ATTITUDE IS SO FUCKING WRONG! What you really want to say is, 'I'm not worthless, I'm not worthless!'" Ann continues to rant, "but you ARE! And you fucking know it!"
Arms of Ann's aura shoot out from her body towards Miriam. Miriam immediately raises the knife to her own throat—
"Persona!"
Within an instant, the same giant figure from before forms above her. It uses its giant hammer to batter the arms of pink away, just in time.
"Grrrrr!"
Ann growls in frustration—more streaks of pink shoot towards the deformed girl, but Hephaestus puts up a mighty shield of fire that keeps them at bay, protecting Miriam.
"Ann, I don't want to fight you…!"
"That's too fucking bad, goblin! Because I want to fucking put you into the ground!"
Ann charges for Miriam—
"You ugly bitch with your ugly fucking Persona!"
As she's running, a figure suddenly shoots out of Ann's body—it's vague, and indistinct, unlike Miriam's own Persona. The outline is vaguely of a woman, but beyond that it's difficult to make out. It's surging red, and is pulsing, as though struggling to maintain its shape.
"You are everything wrong with my fucking life!"
Ann's pulsing Persona clashes with the shield of fire formed around Miriam.
"YOU AND YOUR FUCKING UGLINESS! WANTING TO DEVALUE BEAUTY! THINKING I NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP, THINKING YOU DESERVE TO BE MY FUCKING FRIEND!"
The pink aura of Ann's begins to attract to her Persona too—it swirls around the pulsing body, as though imbuing it with its power.
"If I hate myself—if I think I'm nothing, then that's because of people like YOU! IT'S BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT I'VE BEEN USED AND ABUSED! PEOPLE LIKE YOU RUIN THIS FUCKING WORLD! UGLY PEOPLE…THEY ALL NEED TO FUCKING DIE!"
With one large crack of a whip, the towering persona above Ann breaks through the shield of fire, knocking Miriam and her Persona back.
"Yaaah!"
Miriam stumbles back, and collides with her back into the wall.
"A-Ann, p-please…!" she stutters out, "I-I want you to be okay! T-That's all I want! I don't want to hurt you…!"
" Too bad, abortion! I want to hurt you! I want to hurt you real fucking bad!"
"W-Why…?"
Her voice sounded tearful and strained.
"Are you this damn ignorant?! I've explained this so many damn times already!"
"N-No, I…I get it, b-but…"
"But nothing! You were born a hideous fuck! That's what you fucking are!"
Ann leans over and grabs Miriam by her collars, forcing her up onto her feet.
"You hear me?!" she screeches at her. She pulls her in so close that Miriam can see her own face reflected in Ann's gorgeous blue eyes. "You hideous little freak!"
She's so close that she's spitting over Miriam's face. She's so close that she can see the tears staining Miriam's eyes. To Ann it was a beautiful sight—to see this ugly freak in utter despair. To see the destruction of her happiness…
"I'm going to fucking hurt you…and you'll never see your precious friends again…"
...
To be continued in chapter two!