It was real.
The monstruous roars echoing in his ears, the sun cooking him through his dark clothes, the wind whipping up sand and flinging it into his eyes… it was all real.
Futaba's cognition of her mother was trying to kill them.
Izuku leapt, grabbing Panther around the waist and pushing them both to the side right as a massive lion paw slammed down where she'd been standing. The cognition screeched and he clutched his head, covering his ears. "Sorry!" He had to yell; there was no other way Panther could hear him if he didn't. "Are you okay?"
"Move!" Panther dragged him behind a shard of rubble as the sphinx buffeted the pyramid top with wind. Izuku clenched his eyes shut and pressed his hat tight against his head, pressing his back into the rubble so it wouldn't move.
"The hell!" He heard Skull scream above the wind. "We ain't doin' shit to it!"
The wind died down as the sphinx flew away, out of range of their personas, and they regrouped. Izuku was the first to notice. "Futaba!?"
There she was, dressed exactly the same as she was in her bedroom, not as the pharaoh they'd come to expect. Queen gasped. "You came into your cognitive world!?"
Futaba nodded, tiptoeing closer as she stepped around little shards of stone. "Mm-hm…"
"The person themselves coming into their own Palace?" Mona muttered to himself. "If that happens…" The sphinx screeched again, cutting him off.
Futaba's stared up at the cognition of her mother in naked horror before collapsing to the ground. "Futaba!" Izuku raced to catch her before she fell.
"Punk!"
"No!" Futaba cried out in his arms, looking past Izuku at something only she could see. She pulled at her hair, tears running down her cheeks. "It's my fault… It's my fault that Mom…"
"Don't listen to them, Futaba…"
"That's right!" the monster screamed. "You killed me!"
Fox gapped. "Wait, is that monster her mother!?"
"Are you just now putting that together!?" Izuku snapped, shaking Futaba so she'd focus on him. "Stop listening to them! They're lying to you, Futaba; the voices are lying!"
"You are nothing but a demon who stood in my way! I wish you had never been born! That way I could've announced my results without having to waste my time on you! I poured my heart and soul into that research! It would've been the discovery of the century!"
"What does she mean by that?" Queen asked.
"Could she be talking about cognitive psience?"
"You're going to die! There's no meaning to your life! No one needs you—" The Cognitive Wakaba declared and Izuku couldn't take it any longer.
"SHUT UP!" Punk screamed back at the cognition. "SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, YOU LYING FAKE! FUTABA DIDN'T KILL HER MOTHER! FUTABA IS INNOCENT IN ALL THIS! YOU DON'T GET TO TALK TO HER LIKE THAT; NO ONE GETS TO TALK TO MY FRIEND LIKE THAT!"
"You impertinent brat!"
"Iz…uku…" Futaba stared up at him with desperate eyes.
"Futaba, this isn't your mother!" His gloved hands clutched her arms like she'd blow away in the wind. "You know that, right? This isn't your mother, it's just an illusion your brain made."
"B-But…"
Queen seemed to understand what he was doing, so she continued for him. "She never abused you, did she? Boss told us! He said she did her best to raise you alone!"
"Isn't this a false memory that's been imprinted upon you?" Fox added.
"A false memory?" Futaba considered their words, but a piercing headache crippled her. "Aagh!"
Descending from out of nowhere, her Shadow appeared, staring at Futaba with unblinking yellow eyes. The pharaoh approached the hacker and cupped her face in her hands. "Futaba Sakura. Remember."
A conversation seemed to happen between them, one the rest of the Phantom Thieves weren't privy too. Futaba stopped shaking and, with small cuts bleeding down her legs, stood on her own. Izuku followed her up.
"Futaba…" Izuku reached out for her, only for Futaba to grab her head. "Futaba!"
"What denies you is an illusion…" a mysterious voice whispered as Futaba writhed in pain. Izuku's eyes widened. "A curse put upon you by the heartless… You knew from the very beginning, and yet, you cowered in fear."
She grunted. "That's right. I knew, but I…"
"It's all your fault! This time, you'll be the one to die!"
"Will you die as you are told?" The mysterious voice continued. "Who will you obey? Cursed words spat out by a seething illusion? Or the truth within your own soul?"
"It's your fault! It's all your fault!" Everyone covered their ears as another blast of wind buffeted them.
"I won't—" Futaba walked into the wind, glaring up at the cognition—"Let those distorted lies deceive me anymore… And I won't be led astray by other's voices either… I'm going to trust my own eyes and my own heart to distinguish the truth from the lies. There's no way you're my mom! You're just a fake created by those horrid adults! I'll… I'll never…" Body shaking, fists clenched, she shouted, "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE THEM!"
In a glowing flash of light, her shadow appeared, floating behind her. It gave a small smile before disappearing as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind… a UFO, hovering ominously over Izuku's friend.
"What is that!?" Panther yelled.
"A persona," Izuku whispered in reply.
Mechanical tentacles descended from the UFO, picking Futaba up and pulling her into the ship.
"Contract… I am thou, thou art I… The forbidden wisdom has been revealed. No mysteries, no illusions shall deceive you any longer."
"Futaba!"
"I'm okay!" Futaba called back from inside the ship. "Please, help me! That's got to go."
Cracking his neck, Punk and the rest of the Phantom Thieves turned back to the menacing cognition. He readied his bo-staff, pulling down his hat to shield eyes from the sun.
The cognitive Wakaba Isshiki began circling the pyramid again, like a giant vulture. It screamed some nonsense at them—trying to shake Futaba from her newly discovered rebellion—but no one paid any attention. It swooped up high, trying to crash into them again, but on it's descent, Futaba's persona erected a shield over them. The cognition bounced off the green shield, doing some damage, but not enough to take it down. It flew away back towards the horizon.
"We need away to attack it from a distance!" Punk yelled to Joker.
"I've got it!" Futaba yelled back. "This is our turn—here goes! I'm summoning our ultimate weapon to the battlefield!" In an array of glitching green light, a ballista manifested behind them. "Shoot it down with this, then beat the crap out of it!"
"Punk! Can you—"
"You don't even have to ask, Joker!" Punk bolted off the front lines and settled behind the ballista. The controls were unfamiliar to him, but looked fairly intuitive. Carefully, Punk lined up the aim to where Wakaba was pacing back and forth. He couldn't allow distractions. His quirk pooling in his hand, Punk transferred all his energy into the ballista. Ready… aim… His arms shook, but he had just enough strength to pull the trigger.
"AARGH!"
The cognition fell against the pyramid, bolt smoking in its chest. The Phantom Thieves let out the full fury of their personas—fire, ice, strength, nuke, darkness, all lancing towards the fake Wakaba. Punk didn't stay out of it, ripping off his mask in a flash of blood and launching a Megidola at its face. Black smoke fumed out of its wounds as it tried to stay together.
The Phantom Thieves surrounded it, pointing their guns in case it made any sudden movements.
"Futaba! Futaba, Futaba, Futabaaaaa!" it snarled. "It doesn't matter what you say! Futaba is MY property! Defying one's mother is absolutely disgraceful!"
"We'll be taking Futaba!" Joker declared, his shadow thrashing furiously.
"Shut up! Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuup! Futaba… If only I had never birthed you!"
"No matter what you say to me… I WILL LIVE! FIRE!"
And together, they unleased a firing squad of death upon the cognition of Wakaba Isshiki.
The monster screamed, losing its grip on the side of the pyramid before sliding down to the base. The entire structure shook as it fell only to stop as it lay at the bottom, dead.