"Where are we…?" she muttered. "This isn't normal!"

"So this isn't normal city weather?" Ren mumbled.

"Be serious!" she scolded. "We need to ask someone what's going on."

Ren opened the door, both of them stepping outside, only to be met with a fancy, carpeted hallway, with suits of armor along the walls.

Just what was all of this?! Was this a dream? Was she hallucinating? Was she losing her mind?!

"W-What the hell is this?!" Ren stammered. "It's like we're in some kind of medieval castle."

She took a deep breath.

"I need to calm down." she thought. "I'm the older one, and… it's my responsibility to protect the student body."

"Calm down, ok?" she said. "We're going to get to the bottom of th-"

"Who's there?!"

They both whipped around, seeing a large medieval silver-clad knight, armed with sword and shield.

"An intruder!" the knight shouted, suddenly charging at them.

"What the-"

"Run for it!" she yelled, grabbing him by the hand and running down the hall.

However, it wasn't long before another knight, clad in golden armor, blocked their path.

"Niijima-san?" the knight questioned. "What are you doing out of your quarters?"

"My quarters?" she repeated.

"And you!" the knight roared, pointing his sword at Ren. "What are you doing here?!"

They tried to run away, only to find the silver knight from before blocking their path.

"What should we do with these two?" the silver knight asked.

"Don't harm the girl." The gold knight asked. "As for the boy…"

"Shall I execute him?" the silver knight asked, reading his sword.

Execute?! Had she heard him right?!

"W-Wait, hold on!" Ren stuttered.

"Quiet!" the golden knight yelled, slamming his shield into Ren, knocking him to the ground.

"A-Amamiya-kun!" she cried.

"Bring these two to a cell and wait for King Kamoshida's orders." the golden knight ordered.

Kamoshida?!

"Let go of me!" she screamed as the other knight grabbed her.

But no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't escape the knight's grasp, their grip inhumanly strong.

"N-Niijima-sen-GAH!"

The golden knight kicked Ren hard in the stomach.

"I thought I told you to be quiet!" the knight yelled.

The silver knight grabbed both of them, dragging them away…


They found themselves in a dark cell. Ren was lying on the bed, but she found herself chained to a wall.

"Are you ok, Amamiya-kun?" she asked.

"Not really…" he groaned, clutching his stomach. "But I'll live. What about you? Hanging in there?"

She frowned. "That's not funny."

"My bad."

He slowly got up from the bed to look outside of the cell.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Trying to see if there's anyone to help us out of here." Ren muttered. "Wherever here is, anyway."

"AAAAAAAH!"

Bone chilling screams filled the air, shocking both of them.

"W-What was that…?" Makoto stammered.

"T-Those knights… didn't they mention execution?!" Ren exclaimed. "You don't think..."

"S-Stay calm!" Makoto demanded, her voice trembling. "We need to find a way out of here!"

"R-Right." Ren agreed, quickly looking around the cell for anything that would help them escape.

Unfortunately, nothing Ren found helped them in any way, and it wasn't long before the sound of footsteps alerted them to the returning silver knight.

"Your punishment has been decided, criminal." the silver knight stated to Ren. "For the crime of unlawful entry, you shall be sentenced to death."

"You can't do this!" she cried.

"We didn't even mean to come here!" Ren protested.

"That doesn't matter. This is my castle, and I make the rules!"

Both of them directed their attention to the new voice.

"H-Huh? Kamoshida, is that you?" Makoto muttered in disbelief.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Ren questioned, disturbed by his outfit.

Instead of his normal gym attire, Kamoshida wore a crown, a red cape covered in hearts… and a pink speedo.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the criminal transfer student." Kamoshida scoffed. "I guess leaking your record wasn't enough to drive you away. I guess I'll have to use a more… permanent way to get rid of you."

"So you were the one who did it!" Ren glared.

"...And Niijima-san." Kamoshida grumbled, ignoring Ren. "I'm surprised you tried to escape. Normally you're so good at shutting up and doing what you're told."

"W-What?" she gasped.

"That's why you're one of my favorites." Kamoshida said, a lecherous grin on his face. "All the women in my castle should just do as they're told."

He brought a hand to her cheek, brushing away a strand of hair as she shivered in disgust.

Hundreds of red flags were going off in her head at once right now. Her father and older sister had warned her countless times about predators like this.

She had to do something!

"Get your hands off of her!" Ren yelled, charging forward only to be grabbed by the knight.

"How dare you try and harm King Kamoshida!" the silver knight shouted, slamming Ren into the wall.

"Amamiya-kun!" Makoto screamed, seeing the knight ready to bring their sword down.

Just as the knight was about to slice him in two, however, Kamoshida held out a hand, signaling them to stop.

"Hold off on the exception for now." Kamoshida ordered. "A brilliant idea just came to me."

"Y-You can't do this!" Makoto exclaimed. "The Shujin staff will find out, and they'll call the police to-"

"Ha! You may be book smart, but you're hilariously naive." Kamoshida mocked. "The staff are the ones who gave me this power in the first place! I can do whatever the hell I want, and no one, not even the police, can stop me!"

"That can't be!" Makoto denied. "The staff knows…?"

"The sports teams are my slaves, and every girl at Shujin is mine to do with as I please." Kamoshida smirked. "Everyone in this castle is my subject, so I can beat or touch whoever I want!"

She felt as if her entire world was collapsing around her. He was supposed to be a trusted authority figure. He was in charge of the wellbeing of children! How could he abuse his authority in such a way?! How could the school just look the other way?!

"Are you tired of blindly following orders?"

Her eyes widened, an unknown, yet familiar voice speaking to her.

"Tell you what… you gave me quite a view this morning when you bent down to grab my paper." Kamoshida said, ogling her body. "I never realized how much of your assets that school uniform hid."

"You dropped that paper on purpose…" she muttered, gritting her teeth.

"You should feel honored that you caught my attention." Kamoshida claimed. "I would love to make you mine. Offer your body to me, and I might be willing to spare the life of this criminal."

"Nijjima-senpai… don't." Ren rasped, which earned him another kick to the stomach.

"Aren't I a generous king?" Kamoshida asked.

She clenched her fists.

"Come on, Makoto-chan." Kamoshida leered. "Be a good girl and do as you're told."

"Do as I'm told…?" she repeated, her voice shaking with rage.

Kamoshida leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear.

"Well? What do you think?"

"I think… THAT YOU SHOULD GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE, YOU DAMN PERVERT!" she snapped, headbutting him as hard as she could.

Kamoshida fell to the floor, clutching his nose in pain.

"So, you've decided to follow the path of strife?" the voice in her head spoke. "To pursue your sense of justice?"

"Yes… come to me!"

"Very well. Then let us proceed with the contract at once."

Her eyes instantly turned yellow, and she felt as if her head was being split in two.

She cried out in pain as she tried to grip her head. Her struggles grew stronger and stronger and stronger… until the chains binding her snapped, breaking from the stone wall behind her.

She clutched at her aching head, the voice ringing once more.

"I am thou, thou art I… though your act of rebellion, you have found your sense of justice. Please, never lose sight of it again."

She cried out in pain, slamming her foot into the stone floor, breaking it.

She needed to keep fighting. To save her fellow student. To stop Kamoshida.

"This memorable day marks your graduation from your false self…"

A metallic iron mask materialized onto her face, only adding more to the already intense pain she felt.

She instinctively reached for the mask, trying to rip it off even if it felt like she was ripping her skin off with it.

"What are you fools doing?!" Kamoshida roared. "That bitch attacked me! Kill her!"

As the knights charged towards her, she finally managed to rip off her mask, sending out a large shockwave that knocked the knights to the ground.

A pillar of brilliant blue flames enveloped her, burning away the blood on her face and forcing the knights back.

"W-What the hell…?" Ren stammered.

When the flames began to dissipate, she found that she was no longer wearing her school uniform, but skintight black leather, adorned with spikes on her shoulders and knees, and a long scarf bellowing in the air.

Her feet were no longer planted on the ground, but instead on the pedal of a shining blue motorcycle with a woman's face beneath the windshield.

Ren watched in awe as chains and flames danced around her and her bike.

"I'm not going to follow your orders anymore!" she yelled, glaring down at Kamoshida.

"G-Guards! Don't just stand there!" Kamoshida desperately called. "Kill her!"

Kamoshida ran out of the cell as fast as he could, while one of the knights dissolved into a black ooze before reforming into a pumpkin headed creature holding a lantern.

"Out of my way!" Makoto shouted, ramming into the strange creature.

It fell to the ground, but quickly recovered, shaking its lantern as it prepared for an attack.

"Frei!" she shouted, letting loose a shimmering blue blast of energy, blowing the enemy apart.

Hearing more knights approaching, she turned towards Ren and extended her hand.

"Get on and hold tight!"

"W-Wait!" Ren stammered. "Won't I have to hold on to your-"

"Hurry up, they're coming!" Makoto shouted.

"O-Ok, ok!" Ren replied, taking her hand up to her bike.

"You sure you know how to drive this?" Ren asked, placing his hands on her waist.

"It… can't be much different than a car, can it?"

Ren gulped, already dreading the coming ride.


She drove around at incredible speeds, expertly taking corners at if she had done it her whole life.

Finally, she found a secluded part of the prison to park in.

"I think we lost them." Makoto said.

"Yeah, and I think I lost ten years off of my life." Ren muttered.

"Um… Amamiya-kun? You can let go now." Makoto told him, his hands still on her waist.

"O-Oh, right." Ren muttered, removing his hands and looking away.

"Amamiya-kun, is everything alright?" Makoto asked. "Your face is bright red."

"J-Just tired, I guess." he excused.

She nodded her head. "No doubt. Today's been utterly exhausting."

She glanced over at his hand, gasping.

"Your hand!" she exclaimed, pointed to a gash on his hand.

"I-I didn't even notice!" Ren spluttered. "They must have cut me at some point…"

"You didn't notice? Must be the adrenaline…" Makoto noted.

She took his hand in her own, looking over the wound.

"Dia." she whispered to herself.

A shining green light blanketed Ren, and much to their amazement, the wound on Ren's hand began to close.

"Incredible." Ren said, giving a sigh in relief. "Even my chest and stomach feel better now. How did you do that?"

"I don't know, to be honest." Makoto admitted. "It's like the power just came to me when I wanted to heal you. To be honest, I'm starting to think that this entire world is just me hallucinating from stress."

"Well, if it is, I guess we're having the same hallucination." Ren chucked.

The two stood there in silence for a few moments before Ren gave her an odd look.

"Um… Niijima-senpai? You can let go now." Ren told her, her hands still holding his.

"O-Oh, right." Makoto muttered, looking away.

"Hey, is anyone there?!"

A boyish voice cried out from a nearby cell.

"Another prisoner?" Makoto asked.

"Let's check it out." Ren suggested.

They both ran to the cell, doing a double take at what they saw.

"Thank goodness! I thought I was the only human here!"

"Umm…Amamiya-kun?" Makoto said, nudging him. "Is that a…?"

"...A talking cat." Ren finished.

A black and white cat with a large head stared at them from the other side of the cell.

It looked like a mascot from the cute children's cartoons she enjoyed as a little girl (and secretly still enjoyed now).

"Looks like Kamoshida's abusing animals too." Ren scowled.

The cat's expression turned aghast, and he pounced on the call bars, shaking them.

"Who are you calling an animal, frizzy hair?!" the cat angrily yelled.

Makoto dropped to her knees, curling up into a ball.

"I must be going insane." she whimpered. "The castle, those knights, the motorcycle, and now a talking cat?! What if I'm having one of those psychotic breakdowns?!"

"I'm not a… wait, you know about the psychotic breakdowns?" the strange creature asked.

"They're all over the news." Ren told him.

"I see… well, either way, that's not what's happening." the cat claimed. "You're just in a palace."

"Uh, yeah, we already knew that." Ren responded.

"No, I mean that a 'palace' is a world where someone's distorted desires materialize." the cat explained.

"So… we're not in our world anymore?" Ren asked. "This is like… what's in Kamoshida's head?"

"We're seeing the world as he sees it." Makoto stated. "He thinks that he's a king, and that the school is his castle. Is that it?"

"Hey hey, you two are smarter than you look." the cat complimented. "You've got the gist of it. You're right, this isn't your world. It's part of the Metaverse."

"That's still not exactly comforting." Makoto sighed. "How exactly do we get out of here?"

"I'll show you the way out, but you need to bust me out of here first." the feline promised.

"Maybe you could use those powers you used on that Jack-o'-Lantern." Ren proposed.

"Powers?" the cat repeated.

"Stand back." Makoto warned. "Johanna!"

She fired another ball of blue light, disintegrating the cell bars.

"W-Woah, you have a Persona too?!" the feline exclaimed.

"A… Persona?" Makoto repeated.

The feline nodded. "That Persona, as well as your outfit, is a manifestation of your rebellious spirit."

"So, that outfit…" Ren said before chuckling to himself. "Didn't know you were secretly some badass biker!"

"B-Be quiet! C-Can we change the subject please?!" Makoto insisted, suddenly very self-conscious of how skintight her outfit was.

It wasn't her fault that movies about Yakuza and motorcycle gangs were some of the coolest things ever!

Makoto turned towards the strange monster cat.

"How do you know this, um-"

"Morgana." he introduced himself. "And I know because I have a Persona myself."

"So, if your outfit is based on your idea of a rebel…" Ren muttered, looking over Morgana.

"What?"

"...Well, I guess cats can be rebellious." Ren smirked.

"T-That's just a coincidence!" Morgana insisted. "Just because I look like a cat doesn't mean I am one!"

"Heads up!" Makoto called, interrupting their spat. "The guards must have heard that explosion!"

Right as he said that, another Jack-o'-Lantern flew towards them, followed by winged imp with a very… phallic looking horn.

"Hey, you can fight right?" Morgana asked. "Then I'll back you up!"

Morgana took out a sword, pointing it towards the foes in front of him.

"Zorro, show your might!" the feline called, a muscular masked man appearing behind him.

"Garu!" Morgana shouted, sending a gust of wind towards the Jack-o'-Lantern, knocking it down before destroying it with another gust of wind.

"Alright, your turn!" Morgana shouted.

She narrowed her eyes on the enemy, concentrating. "Johanna!" she cried, summoning her Persona before slamming into the winged demon, destroying it.

As soon as both foes were defeated, her outfit disappeared, and she clutched her chest in pain.

"Looks like you don't have full control yet." Morgana commented. "And be careful with those physical moves. Those hurt you too."

He reached into the pouch on his waist.

"Thankfully, I have this." Morgana said, pouring some medicine on and instantly healing her.

"So, should I stick to my Frei spells?" she asked.

"You'll run out of those eventually." Morgana explained.

"Then we can't afford to get into too many battles. We'll have to be stealthy if we want to get out of here." Ren added.

"Good thinking, frizzy hair." Morgana grinned.

She gave a confidant grin.

"Don't worry, stealth shouldn't be a problem." Makoto proudly said. "I grabbed a book in the room we were in earlier."

"How does that help?" the not cat asked.

She hid her face behind the book, slowly walking forward, occasionally peeking for enemies.

"Get back here!" Morgana hissed. "That's not stealthy at all!"

"O-Oh!" Makoto gasped. "Is it really that bad?"

She still hid behind her book, only now it was to hide the embarrassed blush on her face.

Peeking over her book, she saw Ren trying to hold back his laughter.

"H-Hey, Morgana, where'd Niijima-senpai go?" he snickered. "I can't see her anywhere."

"Oooooh, you are the worst!" she cried out.

"We'll just have to keep a lookout." Morgana told them. "Luckily for you two, I'm a master of stealth."

"Didn't you get caught?" Ren asked.

"Can it, Frizzy Hair."


Morgana led them through the prison, all three of them keeping an eye out for any patrolling guards.

Dread filled her as they passed by the cells, numerous familiar faces lying bruised and bloody on the floor.

"These students… they're all part of our sports teams."

"Those are just part of that Kamoshida guy's cognition." Morgana clarified. "Just ignore them."

"But if they're getting abused here, then they're probably being abused in the real world too." Ren assumed.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Makoto frowned.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Morgana encouraged, leading them to a hallway with a set of doors.

Ren tried the door on the right, only to find it locked. Then they glanced into the left room.

"It's empty." she noted. "Did we hit a dead end?"

Morgana shook his head. "Look up there!"

Morgana directed their attention to a grate above a bookshelf.

"A ventilation shaft?" Ren questioned. "You want us to go through that?"

"You catch on quick!" Morgana praised. "Climb through that, and you two will be out of here in no time."

"What about you?" Ren wondered.

"I still have some unfinished business to take care of here." Morgana said in a serious tone.

"Thank you for helping us. Be safe." Makoto expressed.

She climbed atop the bookshelf, removed the grate, and hopped inside, Ren following after her.

As soon as he was sure they were out of earshot, Morgana began muttering to himself.

"If my intuition is correct, those two might prove to be really useful…"

When they returned to the real world, they found themselves right outside of the school.

"T-That… was intense." Makoto panted, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Y-Yeah." Ren agreed. "I think… I'll grab something from the vending machine. You want anything?"

"Is there anything with low sugar, low carbs, and no artificial flavors?" she asked.

"...Water."

"That… sounds great, actually." she panted.

Ren came back a few moments later, handing her a bottle of water while he drank a can of soda.

"Shoot, Sakamoto-san texted me earlier." Ren muttered. "I told him I'd meet with him earlier."

Remembering her sister, she quickly checked her own phone.

Thankfully, she didn't hold her up. Her sister had texted her saying she wouldn't be able to pick her up, and that she'd be spending the night at work.

An event that had become increasingly common as of late.

"What the heck is this?" Ren muttered.

"What is it?"

"There's this weird app on my phone that I don't remember downloading." Ren told her.

He showed his phone to her, showing her the app that was all too familiar to her at this point.

"Hey, I have that app too!" she told him. "It just showed up on my own phone a day or two ago"

"It says it's called the Metaverse Navigator." Ren read.

"Metaverse… wasn't that the place Morgana said we were in?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Ren confirmed. "So, I guess this app is the key to getting back into that place, right?"

"Yes…"

"Niijima-senpai, do you… want to go back there?" he asked.

"Yes, I do." she confessed. "I know that it's dangerous, but if Kamoshida really is… doing these awful things to students, then I need to do something."

"Same here." Ren smiled. "I don't like leaving things half-finished."

"Then I suppose we're in this together." she smiled. "To be honest, I'm glad you're there with me. I'm amazed at how well you managed to keep your cool."

"Well, it wasn't my first time in a cell." Ren joked.

"Oh…"

Ren frowned, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry. That was a bad joke. Anyway, can I have your number?"

"W-W-What?!"

He tilted his head in confusion. "I wanted a way to keep in touch with you to talk about the Metaverse… and studying too, I guess."

"O-Oh, right, of course." she realized.

They quickly exchanged contact information.

"Meet me in the student council room after school tomorrow." she asked. "We'll go over our plan there."

Ren nodded, and the two decided to head home.

As she made her way to the subway station, fear started to grip her. The last time she took the subway, she…

She shook her head. She couldn't think like that. She couldn't keep relying on her sister.

She was a Niijima.

She needed to be strong.


Date Unknown

Interrogation Room

Strong…

She… needed… to be strong...

"A castle? A talking cat? Summoning a motorcycle?!" Sae snapped, anger growing with every question. "Do you think this is a joke?!"

She knew this would be her reaction. She rubbed her temples, trying to remain calm while under her sister's glare.

"It's the truth." she insisted. "You have to believe me."

"For every lie that you tell me, I'll add another charge to the pile!" Sae spat.

All you know how to do is threaten people…

Boss, Ren… even me.

"What drugs did they inject you with?" Sae muttered, shaking her head.

You've probably done the same to others…

"Don't you remember? They found me in an illegal casino." Makoto brought up.

"What's your point?" Sae asked.

"How many illegal casinos do you know of that are right in the middle of the city?" Makoto asked. "Near a courthouse, even."

To her relief, Sae seemed to consider her words. "It… is strange, isn't it? So, this 'Metaverse' is where the process of stealing hearts takes place."

"That's correct."

Her sister still looked incredibly skeptical, but at least she was willing to listen.

Although perhaps that was only because of her distorted desire to capture the thieves by any means necessary…

"Very well then. Continue to tell me about Kamoshida, and how you went about stealing his heart." Sae demanded.

"Yes, sis."

Sae narrowed her eyes, her glare like a dagger to her heart…

"What was that…?" Sae muttered.

It took all of the remaining willpower she had not to burst into tears.

"...Yes, Prosecutor Niijima."