I had it all. Power. Sheer power. Like an ninja, I could slide into the shadows where no one would look, point at them, and either make them psychotic, or kill them, without a trace leading back to me. And if someone came to where I did my work, I could crush them with sheer force, like a fly in a giant's hand.

...so why was I collapsed in front of these thieves and misfits in defeat? How was my power not enough to overcome them? Why… couldn't I defeat my… my...

...friends? Teammates? ...enemies? Who were they? Why was I doubting myself? Wasn't my mission clear? Wasn't my hatred of them clear enough that my task should have been simple? Were they actually that strong? Or was I…

"You ready to call it quits?" said Ryuji, breaking my train of thought. That stupid ape of a human was always far too blunt. And yet somehow, he was right. I was done. All I wanted now was to leave, to be anywhere except this place.

I gasped for air for a moment. "I know… I've had enough…" I looked up. I looked at their leader, the man in the black coat and the bird-like mask. My rival. The object of my fascination and envy. The man whom I had tried to kill, but through a complicated gambit had slipped out of my grasp. He looked at me as well. Both of us were Wild Cards, those with the power to wield multiple Personas, but I had every advantage over him… I realized, every advantage, except one.

"You're so lucky… lucky to be surrounded… by teammates who acknowledge you… and once Shido confesses his crimes, you'll all be heroes. As for me, people will find out my past deductions were just charade. My fame and trust will vanish." I shook my head; once my crimes were exposed, it was over. My life, my dreams… everything I had to live for would be taken away, with no family to turn to. Everyone would see me for who I really was: a monster, a murderer, a deceiver. A child whose mere existence was a sin. If I was lucky, a life behind bars awaited me. If not...

I looked up at them again. The cat spoke, "...I see. So you were turning people psychotic, then solving the cases yourself. And you did that by joining forces with Shido."

Joining forces. Only so far as I could to get near him, then kill him when I had the chance, to erase my bastard past from anyone who could ever find out. So I could be noticed. So I could be special.

But in the face of this defeat, I had failed.

"In the end… I couldn't be special…"

"Dude, you're more than special…" I heard Ryuji say.

I looked up to him in shock.

"It pains me to admit," Makoto said, "but your wit and strength far exceeds ours. We only defeated you by teaming up. I was honestly… envious of your natural ability. It was frustrating to see how much my sister trusted you…"

Envious? How can one be envious of my power, fueled only by hate and loathing? And Sae-san… I only led her astray with my lies. I couldn't help it, I wanted to earn her trust, through any means necessary, not only because she was a great partner, but because I had feelings for her that I couldn't and now will never be able to confess...

"I have no intention of forgiving you for what you did to my father, but…" Haru paused. "...I sympathize with you. I wholeheartedly understand wanting to get back at the adults who took from you…"

Haru… I killed her father and left her without guardians, and yet she was still somehow more concerned about his murderer's well-being than her own? It was true, though… I took away her father, but other adults, including my own piece-of-shit father, screwed me so much and left me to fend for myself, which led to the events that caused me to kill him in the first place...

"But when you gained the power to fulfill that desire, you only used it for your own self benefit," said Yusuke.

"If you've got more than one Persona, maybe you actually have the same kinda power as Joker's," Futaba said, cutting in. I found she was prone to that, when I was working with them in Sae-san's palace. " But you trusted no one, so you only got two Personas: one for your lies, and one for your hate. Still, you thought that was enough, right? That part I totally get."

Futaba was another one I never could truly get. The way she thought, the way she talked, the way she just… perceived things compared to most people. It was like a child's train of thought, unknowing of the wider world but at the same time unclouded by prejudice and social etiquette to strike right at the core. And like Haru, she knew now I killed her mother, but here she was picking apart my personality, my past and my way of thinking, instead of cursing me out and calling me a monster like other people in this world would, and telling me she understood… and I wondered how anyone else, most especially her, could understand...

"You excelled at everything over us… yet that was the one thing you lacked," Yusuke added.

"..." I knelt there speechless. Who were these people? Why were they not just killing me while I was down? If I were in their position, I would do that… my sense of justice wouldn't allow anything else, and yet...

"Alright, let's go back and get that callin' card ready!" Ryuji bellowed loudly. As they went to leave the engine room, he turned around and looked me in the eye. "We're gonna take Shido down. What're you gonna do?"

"It'd be a problem if you kept getting in our way. Wanna come along and help us settle things?" Ann asked.

…! After all I did to them? Killing two of their parents and almost killing their leader, they still wanted to give me a second chance?!

"...are you all idiots? You should get rid of me… if you don't want me getting in your way." I nervously chuckled. "...you are all truly beyond my comprehension."

Then, I noticed all of them looking at something behind me in shock. I turned my head, and was too shocked by the figure approaching from behind me.

"Akechi?" Ryuji asked.

"Another one?!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Wait, is he…"

The cat shouted, "That's… Shido's cognitive version of Akechi!"

My father's cognition of me… I should have guessed such a being existed within his palace. The way he strutted up, the blank stare in his eyes, his cold expression… just seeing it chilled me to the core, even before it started talking.

"I'll deal with the rest of you later," it said to them, before pulling out a pistol and pointing it at my head. "Captain Shido's orders… he has no need for losers. Well… this just moves the plan up a little. He was going to get rid of you after the election anyway."

I jolted in shock. "What?!"

"Did you truly believe you'd be spared after all the murders you undertook? Don't tell me… were you actually feeling good about having someone rely on you for once?" I gritted my teeth, disgusted that this was how Shido thought of me, and now was toying with my own insecurities and fears… I never had a high opinion of him regardless, only doing his bidding until he won the election before I would kill him, but to see that he thought of me, his son, as just another disposable tool toward his tyranny…

"Oh by the way, the captain says it's time you receive retribution for causing the mental shutdowns," it continued.

"What the hell man?! That bastard's the one who put him up to it!" Ryuji yelled.

...I realized it now. This cognition was his security system against me and my vengeance-filled heart. Something that could play me like a fiddle and break me mentally before unceremoniously offing me, in spite of the great power my Persona held...

I faced it, and chuckled. "...I see… I was wondering how he'd protect himself if I used my power to tear through his palace. Turns out you're how. So he's making a puppet kill me… sounds like something he'd do."

"That's right. I'll do anything," the cognition droned. "But look at yourself. You're the true puppet."

...what?! Me, a puppet?!

The cognition's face was then painted with a highly deranged expression. "You wanted to be acknowledged, didn't you?" it hissed. " To be loved? You've been nothing but a puppet from the very beginning."

...I...dammit...I...

"You little…" Ryuji grunted, shaking his fist.

"So this… is how Shido thinks of Goro Akechi?" Makoto gasped. "It's...it's too horrible!"

"It's still not too late!" Haru insisted. "We can change his heart together! Even if he's your father… no, because he's your father!"

"What's all this nagging about?" The cognition snapped. "You want me to take care of you first?" Then all of a sudden, several shadow guards appeared around him, ready to attack.

"No… he's not alone! He has shadows too!" Ann said in shock. I looked up at the shadows… how a mere cognition had the ability to summon loyal shadows to attack intruders seemed impossible, but then again Shido's distortion seemed so warped that his palace broke all the rules. Sure I could kill each individual one easily, but this cognition of me could probably just summon an infinite amount of them and eventually overwhelm me. I knew that such a struggle was a losing battle even for me, and I was trying now to find an out, but to no avail… my eyes wandered, and caught a big, red button under glass, labeled "bulkhead door."

...I thought about my crimes, my sins, my lies… perhaps if I was fated to die here, I could do so on my own terms. Somehow, my survival instinct had shut down in that moment, and I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. Was this how suicidal people felt before they did the deed, I wondered?

The cognition kept his pistol trained on me, then looked at the Thieves. "You know what? I'll let someone volunteer to take his place. Who knows? You might delay his death."

My eyes widened. As much as I detested them, envied them, part of me objected to any of them dying for any reason, even if… no, especially if it was to spare me. I had nothing left, they had the world to win. And they were my… my...

"Damn you…" Ryuji grumbled.

The cognition sneered. "You guys are all about doing things for others, aren't you? Oh, that's just the same as me. I'm going to take all the blame for our captain. I'll die for him too."

"This is what Shido thinks of Akechi-kun, even after making him help with the murders?!" Makoto shouted in protest.

...none of that is true, I thought. This is how that twisted waste of human flesh views me, a disposable yes-man who will take the fall for his cause no matter what. Hehe… I should have known. I should have just killed him from the start, and not let him play me like the fool I was. Now, here I find myself, weak, defeated and unable to take him down…

...but perhaps there's something I can do in the moment to rebel. My life didn't matter anymore.

The cognition looked at me. "Here, I'll give you one last chance. Shoot them."

I chuckled weakly. "Haha… I was such a fool." Rising to my feet, I cocked my gun and trained it on Joker.

"Yes… that's the you our captain wishes to see."

"...don't misunderstand. You're the one who's going to disappear!"

I quickly turned around and shot him, causing him to grunt in pain and fall to the ground.

Then, I pointed the gun at the Thieves, except I was aiming at the distant red button. With one shot, I hit it, shattering the glass and causing alarms to blare.

"THE WATERTIGHT BULKHEAD DOOR HAS CLOSED. ALL PERSONNEL WITHIN THE PARTITION WALL, EVACUATE AT ONCE."

Right after that announcement, a large wall arose from the floor, hitting and locking with the ceiling above and separating me from the others. The shadows, sensing danger, fled, leaving me alone with my cognitive double. All I could hear of the Thieves now was their muffled voices on the other side of the wall.

"Whoa, what is this?!"

"Akechi!"

I banged the wall and yelled to them, "Hurry up, and go!"

"You fool! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

I shook my head. Life didn't matter to me anymore, and I didn't want to hold them down longer than I had to. "The real fools… are you guys. You should have just abandoned me here a long time ago. You would have all perished… if you had tried to face these with me weighing you down..."

"Akechi-kun!"

"Let's make a deal, okay? You won't say no, will you?" No matter what, even in death, I did not want my mission of bringing Shido to justice to go unfulfilled, and these people were the only ones who could complete the job, and had the motive to do so, as Shido had wronged them, and especially Joker, as much as I.

"Why at a time like this?!"

I banged the door again. "Change Shido's heart… in my stead… end his crimes… Please!" I pleaded.

Silence, before I heard him, a man of few words and godlike power, the object of my envy and awe, speak.

"I'll hold on to your glove."

Ah yes, the glove I slapped him with and then left after our duel (to this day I still thought his Shiki-Ouji Persona was bullshit). After all we've been through, and the situation we were in now, that's what he would promise? To keep a trivial trinket of my memory? My… memory? To keep me in...

"...heh, after all this, that's what you have to say? Seriously, you really are…" I smiled. It wasn't the best deal, but it was a deal nonetheless, to keep my justice alive.

I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Fool Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power…

My cognitive double got back up, wobbly and still gripping the wound in his chest, pointing his pistol at me. "YOU BASTARD!"

I pointed my own gun at him, as low on energy as he was from my defeat. "So… my final enemy is a puppet version of myself… I…"

I gently squeezed the trigger.

"Akechi-kun!"

I looked him in the eye and glared.

"Isn't there some way to get this open, Mona?!"

The moment he flinched, I planted two shots into his skull, before allowing myself to collapse.


I awoke.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep, only that I could tell it had been for a while. I was still in the ship's engine room, and the bulkhead wall was still up. There were no shadows around - why they wouldn't come down here to finish me off, I didn't know. Perhaps they left me for dead.

...was I dead? I couldn't know. I certainly had lucidity, so I wasn't dreaming. When you jump in and out of cognitive worlds as much as I did, you become keenly aware of the boundary between dream and reality. But perhaps dying dreams followed different rules than ones you had when you are still alive.

I managed to get myself back onto my feet and assess my situation. The engine room seemed no different than I had left it. I was still in my Black Mask outfit. Just as a test, I briefly summoned Loki to make sure my Persona still worked, then used Eiha, a weak move which no one would likely notice, on a valve to ensure I was still combat-capable, before recalling him.

I didn't know if I was alive in that moment, but at least for now I had to assume I was.

I looked down at the floor in introspection. I was alive… but how could I face the world now? Surely, if and when Shido confessed his crimes, he would spill everything about me out of spite. And then what? My nature as a bastard child, my status as a mass-murderer and corrupter of lives, a knowing accomplice to the schemes of a madman. The public, slaves to drama and order as they were, would turn on and reject me. My adoring fans would feel cheated and seek my spilled blood. No way was there a future for me in that world.

Death, of course, was an escape. But the more I thought, the more I wished there were a way out other than death, a way for me to start fresh without any of the burdens of the sins I carried. If only I could redo my life, or rebuild it somehow…

My thoughts were disrupted when the room started violently shaking. Catwalks fell from the ceiling, steam blew holes in pipes, objects were tossed about chaotically.

After I steadied myself and understood my situation, I grinned. They did it, I thought. They changed his heart, stole his treasure, and now the palace, no longer supported by the treasure at its core, began to fall apart. But, I was still trapped here, and if I didn't get out then I would surely die.

Adrenaline rushed through my body as my fight-or-flight instinct reactivated. I looked around, searching for a way out of this place. A door, a vent, anything would do, but none could be seen.

A large explosion blew behind me, causing me to stumble forward covering my ears. When I turned around, I saw a hole had been blown in the wall, and seawater was now seeping in. I thought about how I was going to drown. But then, I realized I had a potential escape route.

I found a raft and a piece of wood to use as a makeshift row. After balancing myself, I quickly rowed my way out just as the water rose high enough to make the hole impassable.

It was night outside, as I rowed desperately away from the sinking ship. It didn't matter where I rowed to; any direction would take me out of the palace if I went far enough. But I had to be quick; any second now and the distortion would disappear, and I didn't want to be around when that happened, unsure what would happen if I were still in the palace when it disappeared.

I put all my strength into getting away, hoping to make it to the edge of the distortion. But no matter how fast or far I rowed, it seemed I made no progress in distancing myself from the burning wreckage of the ship behind me. I just have to paddle faster, I thought to myself, paddle like there's a shark chasing me trying to eat me.

That's when it happened. In an instant, the ship exploded, sending shrapnel and debris in all directions and creating a massive shockwave, throwing me off of my raft and hurtling forward. I expected to hit water; not the worst thing, since I could swim. Instead, I just kept falling. Falling into a black abyss, as the world around me faded and time seemed to slow.

Have you ever been on the boundary of sleep and wakefulness, where your sense of the world is hazed and your movements stiff and slow? That is what I felt like at that moment. I felt as though my body were hurtling through space in slow motion, the sounds of the world muted and slurred, all of my thoughts passing through my mind. In particular, the thought I had, of wanting to start my life over to right my wrongs, played through my head over and over. I barely registered the sudden white light that passed into my vision, the biting cold wind that assaulted my skin, or the sensation of hitting the cold, wet snow, the last thing I heard before losing consciousness the faint voice calling out to me.