Chapter 7: Igniting the Flame Within!
(Back in Galar, Wild Area…)
"Any luck on finding Ace, yet?" A man asked Sonia and Hop.
The man in question has long purple hair and amber eyes, and black sideburns. His outfit consisted of a black striped shirt with a blue sword and a magenta shield on it, white shorts with matching tights with black & gold diamond patterns, a red fur-lined cape that contained logos of sponsors on the back, a black & white sweatband as well as a black & gold thumbless glove on his right arm while his left arm has a Dynamax Band, and black and white sneakers with yellow "X" on the center. Underneath the cape was a single number that was on the back of the shirt which was "1", which was also on the left side of his shorts. And he also wears a black baseball hat that was tilted upwards, allowing the crown design on the brim to be shown. This man was none other than Leon, the previous Galar Champion and Hop's older brother. He is also currently the chairman of Galar's Pokemon League following the arrest of the previous chairman.
When he was told that Ace disappeared, he immediately rushed to where Hop and Sonia were, which took him several hours to get here due to the former Champion being… directionally challenged. And there's also the fact that he tends to get sidetracked whenever he got lost.
"Not yet." Sonia asked. "There was a rise of energy shortly after Ace disappeared, but it just vanished as suddenly as it appeared."
"Man, I wondered if Ace was alright?" Hop wondered. "There's no way he just up and dies, right?"
"Knowing Ace, I'm sure he can handle himself just fine." Leon told his younger brother. "But still, I wonder where that red light sent him to?"
"If I'm not mistaken, wherever that light sent Ace to will definitely answer the question on how and why Pokémon in the Wild Area kept disappearing."
"I hope so." Leon stated. "I guess in the meantime, I'm back as the Champion until Ace gets back. Hopefully I'm able to do this while also managing Macro Cosmos." To be fair, he has been pretty busy himself since he took over Macro Cosmos following the arrest of Rose. Not that he hates his new job though.
"If anyone can do it, it's you Lee." Hop cheered his older brother.
"Until then, we'll need to get to the bottom of this fast." The young professor explained. "I don't want to know if this crisis could get any worse."
"Don't worry, Sonia. We're in this together." The purple haired boy assured her.
Leon then looked around the Wild Area, which was almost desolate.
'What could cause all of this…?' The former Galar Champion wondered. 'I hope Ace is alright…'
(Back in the other world, Shujin Academy…)
Once the class was over for today, the three boys wasted no time to meet up with each other by the usual spot along with Morgana.
"You guys ready? The sooner we can beat the shit out of that bastard, the better." Ryuji asked impatiently while tapping his foot. "Isn't it faster to just use the app from where we are now?
"First, we're not going after his Shadow directly. We simply need to take his desires." Morgana reprimanded him.
"But the chance of us fighting him is high." Ace reminded them. "So, we need to be ready for it when that comes." He said as they nodded.
"And second, that's a bad idea because not only could someone see you disappear into thin air, you can also wind up in the middle of a group of enemies." The not-cat continued. "I think we can all agree when I say that is a scenario that we like to avoid."
"Y-Yeah, that's true…" The dyed-blonde boy sighed, understanding about the statement.
"But seeing as you talked about how you want to beat Kamoshida, have you decided on what to do from here?"
"Yeah…" Ryuji said with a determined look. "That bastard should just go to hell for all I care. Suzui went into a coma because of him."
"Same." The knitted cap boy stated. "It's bad enough that his Shadow self just went and captured several Pokémon who were unfortunate enough to end up in his castle for his "collection", but now he added "sexual harassment" to his list of crimes. As far as I am concerned, I'm not gonna pull any punches on him this time. He's going to get what deserves."
Morgana then turned to Ren. "And how about you?"
"I'm with them. I'm done being nice to him." The bespectacled teen answered with no hesitation.
"All right, it seems we're in the same boat now." The not-cat stated.
"And while we're at it, let's see if we can find and free some Pokémon from Kamoshida." Ace stated. "Those Pokémon were transported and captured against their will. So, we should add that in the to-do list."
"I have no qualms about that." Morgana said.
"I'm down with that, man. They're just as much of a victim as everyone else who suffered because of that pervert." Ryuji added.
"Me too." Ren as the Ryuji realized something.
"But… how are we gonna help those Pokémon, Ace?"
"Don't worry about that. I have figured it out." The otherworldly boy replied.
"What do you mean by that?" His roommate asked. But just as Ace was about to answer…
"Hey. Are you three really going to be expelled?" They turned to the newcomer… who was none other than Ann. "Everyone has been talking about it."
"Already!?" Ryuji exclaimed as the information had spread over the entire school like wildfire. "Damn it! That son of bitch didn't even wait a day before openin' his big mouth again…"
"Hey, weren't you with Ms. Mizuhara? Where is she?" Ace asked her, since the former hasn't seen his homeroom teacher ever since she went to the hospital with the latter.
"She went home as soon as we left the hospital." The twin tailed girl answered before focusing on the main subject. "But enough of that. Is it because you challenged Kamoshida, isn't it?" She drifted her eyes up to them. "And now you're all planning to take him down, right?"
"So, what? What's it to you?" The delinquent asked, unsure what his former middle school was getting at.
"H-Hey…" Ann then turned to Ace. "I'm sorry about what happened with your BFF. I… was there with her the entire time on the rooftop. I tried to talk her out of it, but it was no use and she ended up taking the dive."
The twin tailed girl shifted away for a moment as she tried to fight back her tears. She also felt grateful about what the otherworldly teen just did.
"I… appreciate what you did, including where you tried to soften the fall for her. But what matters right now… is making Kamoshida pay." Ann stated with a resolute tone, now exchanging sadness with fury and hatred. "And if you guys are going to do just that, then let me in on it too."
The three boys were shocked at that statement. Considering what had happened to her best friend, especially after being told what happened that led her to attempt suicide by Sora, it made sense that she would do anything to avenge her. However, her involvement would become problematic for them on their approach against Kamoshida. Ace then regained his composure.
"I understand what you're going through. Really, I am. But I'm sorry, Ann. We can't let you get involved in this." The Pokémon Trainer refused her.
"What!? Why the hell not!?" She asked indignantly.
"It's risky as hell, idiot! And It's got nothing to do with you!" Ryuji retorted harshly.
"You two should know how much this means to me!" Ann argued. "Shiho's my—"
"I said stay outta this!" The dyed blonde boy snapped, trying to act cruel as best as he could. "You're only just getting in the way!"
Silence fell into the atmosphere as Ann was seething in anger at the two boys. Ren felt how tense this is because of his classmate's glare towards his two friends. Eventually, the girl in the area let out an irritated grunt as she turned away and left.
"That was harsh." Morgana commented.
"But, what else were we supposed to do? We can't take her to the Palace." Ryuji remarked, justifying his and Ace's actions.
"I agreed. She's been through enough as it is. We don't want to endanger her more by letting her come to the Palace with us."
"At any rate, let's move somewhere else safe. With no one in sight." The not-cat suggested as the three boys nodded in agreement as they left the area.
They then head out through the front of the school's entrance, where they move to the alleyway across the gate. This allowed them to have enough privacy needed to move to the other world.
"Just so you know, the moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves." Morgana told them.
"Phantom thieves, huh?" Ace repeated. "You mean those types of thieves that like to get away with stealing in the flashiest way possible?"
"I don't know if you could call it "flashy"..." The not-cat answered with a sweat drop. "But we're definitely going to steal the Treasure with style!"
"Not bad." Ren commented, liking the name.
"That sounds badass!" Ryuji added as he pulled out his phone. "So, we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida's name, and… "castle", right? Then we end up in bizarro world."
"I have to admit though, I'm very curious how that works." The otherworldly boy confessed. "How the heck an app can transport us all the way to that other world?"
"Beats me, Ace. It's just… do. I guess. I mean, I just found this app on my phone last night." The dyed blonde boy replied before he stowed away his phone. "But as long as it's helpin' us takin' down Kamoshida, I ain't gonna bother with the details."
"I hope you don't regret that."
"Are you all ready for this?" Ren asked his friends as they all nodded.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Morgana said with a confident tone.
"Me and the team are all set and ready to go." Ace stated as he also spoke on behalf of his Pokemon team.
"You know me, Ren. I'm fired about this." Ryuji added, affirming his stance.
"All right." The bespectacled boy then pulled out his phone and opened the MetaNav and decided to activate the sequence.
And then everything was distorted left and right as everyone had entered the Metaverse, where the school shifted into the castle. Ren and Ryuji were all in their Metaverse attire while Morgana returned to being like a Pokémon-esque form.
"All right! Time to cut loose!" Ryuji stated as he was riled up and ready to go.
"Now remember; If we do things by the book, the Kamoshida shouldn't die in the—"
"What is this!?" Morgana's explanation was interrupted as they turned to notice someone who they didn't expect to see in the Palace. The one who shouted in shock was none other than a certain platinum blonde haired girl. Suffice to say that their reactions of seeing her, even after all the work Ryuji and Ace did to make sure to stay out of it, in the Palace was quite the understatement.
"Takamaki!?" Ryuji exclaimed.
"That voice… Sakamoto-kun!?" Ann replied before noticing Ren and Ace. "And… is that Amamiya-kun and Wilbert-senpai!?"
"W-Why are you here!?" The skull masked teen asked her while Morgana was staring at the new girl with a dreamy expression.
"How I should I know!?" The platinum blonde girl retorted. "Hey! Where are we!? The sign said it's the school, but why is it a castle!?"
Morgana then shook himself out of the trance and turned towards the boys. "It seems the app that you used can drag someone else into the Metaverse if they were close enough within the vicinity. By vicinity, I meant us."
"That is true. Me and Ryuji was dragged into the Metaverse the first time." Ren agreed. "I think we should be careful when using the MetaNav."
"Yeah. It would be a pain if we missed someone and then they were accidentally dragged here." Ace added.
"You guys better tell me what the hell is going on here!" Ann demanded an explanation to the other four. Her voice was so loud that it almost attracted the Shadows.
"C-Calm down, milady… Y-You're going to attract the Shadows if you keep shouting like that…" The cat-like creature tried his best to calm the girl.
"No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it's a monster cat!"
"M-Monster…" Morgana was flabbergasted at being both a monster and a cat at the same time.
"Welp, we'll have to force her outta here." Ryuji stated while scratching the back of his head. "Let's push her out, 'kay?"
"We got out into the real world from just running away from the castle, so I'm sure that will work." Ren stated.
"Great! Lend me a hand, you two."
"Okay." Ren and Ace nodded as they make their way towards Ann. The girl clearly realized what are they were about to do to her.
"Don't you even–" Ryuji immediately grabbed her by the arm, attending to pull Ann along as she struggled. "Hey! Let go of me!"
"Sorry, Ann. Nothing personal." Ace stated as he grabbed the other arm while Ren pushed her back towards the direction of the exit.
"H-Hey! W-Where are you touching me!?" The twin tailed girl exclaimed as she glared at Ryuji.
"S-Sorry 'bout that…" Ryuji apologized. "Y-You were strugglin' and… I mean, that's not important!"
After some struggle by Ann, the three boys were able to push out and teleport her back to the real world before coming back. The three boys then took a moment to catch their breath.
"Damn it! What a way to start the infiltration!" The dyed blonde boy grumbled. "Now we have to deal with Takamaki once this is all over."
"Explaining her about all of this won't be easy…" Ace began. "And to be honest, I felt bad about pushing her away from all this."
"Remember, we did that all for her sake." Ren reminded them. "The last thing we need is to let her getting involved since she has no way to defend herself."
"You got that right." Ryuji agreed.
"Well, I guess things aren't as calm as I expected." They then turned to Morgana, who approached them. "Thanks to that racket earlier, the Shadows have become aware of our presence.
"Well, shit. I should've known it won't be easy." The dyed blonde stated. "But we're still going push on through!"
"Yeah." Ren and Ace said in unison.
"All right, let's begin, shall we?" Morgana then turned to Ren. "I'm counting on you, Joker."
"Joker? That a nickname or somethin'?"
"Don't make it sounds so dumb! It's a codename!" The cat-like creature replied to Ryuji. "There's no telling what will happen if we call ourselves in our real name in the Metaverse. And since we're now phantom thieves, I think it's appropriate to act as such and only refer ourselves by our codename."
"Using codenames as safety precautions, huh? That makes sense." Ace agreed on Morgana's logic.
"But why is Ren "Joker" though?" The skull masked teen inquired.
"Because he's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength."
"Not bad. I like it." Ren commented, liking his codename already.
"He kind of seems to be quick to adapt in several situations, so I guess that's fitting." The otherworldly boy added.
"It's settled then." The cat-like creature then turned towards Ryuji. "Now it's Ryuji's turn. Let's see… He will be known as Thug."
"You pickin' a fight with me or somethin', you stupid cat!? I'll come up with it myself then!" Ryuji exclaimed, offended by Morgana's attempt at making up codenames. "Hmm… I think when it comes to me, it's gotta be this mask! How about we all named me after this?"
"That means you're either Skull, Bones, or Bonehead, then." Ace called out the codename for his friend.
"Yeah, that's it! Though I like "Skull" way more! So, you can all call me that!" Ryuji stated that he liked his codename. "So, what're you going to call yourself?"
"I was thinking about Champ, but too many people from back home have already called me that…"
"Hold up. What do you mean by that exactly?" Ryuji asked.
"Oh. I guess I forgot to mention to you all that I'm the Champion of Galar's Pokemon League."
"Pokémon League?" Both second-year students repeated.
"I see. Care to elaborate it?" Morgana asked.
"I would, but I don't think we have the time to cover the topic. We have an infiltration to start after all." Ace told. "But here's the short version: Anyone who was called that region's Champion is the strongest Pokémon Trainer. I think you know where I'm going with this."
"Dude! Are you for real!?" The skull masked teen was in awe after hearing that. The dyed blonde boy knew that Ace was very skilled in instructing his Pokemon well, but he had no idea that his friend is that region's strongest Pokémon Trainer.
"Yeah. That's quite the accomplishment." Ren agreed.
"I agree. Being the strongest Pokemon Trainer isn't something to scoff at." Morgana nodded in agreement. "It seems Joker is not the only one with an impressive fighting strength."
"I thank you for that compliment."
"How about we called you "Trainer"?" The skull masked boy proposed.
"Ryuji, you might as well call every Pokemon Trainer we might come across that." The Galar Champion shot down the idea. He then began to brainstorm some ideas. "Hmm… Considering this world's England is like my world's Galar… And there's the fact that I am now the Champion of the region… I think I know what the codename is for me."
"And that is?" Ren asked as he and the other two listened with curiosity.
"I was thinking about "King" be my codename." He answered.
""King"? Wouldn't that be just the same as Kamoshida's Shadow?" Ryuji asked.
"I think that fits him perfectly." Morgana commented. "He certainly has the air of one. It's like the other Kamoshida, except he is the interpretation of what a king should be. Like how he even risked himself to solve the problems that this Galar region is facing despite it got him transported to this world."
"Though if you put it like that, I guess it's perfect then." Ryuji stated, as he finally understood how fitting it is. "Lookin' back, I think it's all more the reason why it suits him so much since he jumped and saved Suzui back there.."
"Same." The bespectacled boy nodded in agreement.
Once it was all decided on Ace's codename, they then turned towards Morgana.
"Now then, why do you think of this one's codename?" Ryuji asked his friend.
"And before any of you suggested, it better not be something that is related to cats!" The not-cat warned them.
"Geez, 95% of my suggestions just went up in smoke." The otherworldly boy stated with disappointment in his tone.
"How about "Mona"?" Ryuji suggested. "It's like the shorter version of Morgana."
"That's good. It's easy to remember." Ren commented, approving the codename choice.
"If Joker says it's fine, then I guess I'll go with it." Morgana stated, also approved of the codename. "All right. From here and out, We're Joker, Skull, King, and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using those codenames from now on wherever we're in the Metaverse."
"Got to say, King. I think you're the only one without a costume here. Seeing as you don't have a Persona." Skull commented. [1]
"Are you going to infiltrate the castle in a school uniform?" Joker asked.
"Of course not, which was why I came in prepared!" King proceeded to rip off his school uniform (his top section anyway), revealing that he wore the same shirt as his predecessor, except the numbers on the back of his shirt are "926". [2] Much like Leon's sport shirt, it has the Pokémon League emblem on the right sleeve. He then put his school's blazer and shirt into his bag.
"Dude. Is that some kinda soccer jersey? It looks badass!" The skull masked teen commented.
"For once, I agree. That sword and shield motif on the front certainly suits you." The cat-like creature added. "It makes your code name all the more fitting with that attire."
"Like it? This is my Champion shirt. I got this as soon as I won the Galar's Pokémon League." The Galar Champion explained.
"Yeah. That's very impressive." The frizzy haired teen commented. "Let's go, everyone!" He told his teammates, which they nodded in agreement.
They immediately took off by heading towards the side entrance, where they proceeded to get through it. Hopping through the vent, the three proceeded to scan the area for any guards, which thankfully there was none.
"Welp, it's a good thing those guards didn't bother to check every room." King muttered as Joker proceeded to walk forward and open the door slowly. When he was checking around left and right, he stopped when he saw a large gathering of guards in the main hall.
"What's goin—" Skull began to ask, only for King to quickly silence him with a motion when he saw what Joker just witnessed. The bespectacled teen then signaled both Skull and Mona to join him and King, where they peered out from the door. "Holy shit! There's so many of 'em!"
"Alright, men. Listen up!" Shadow Kamoshida began as his voice was so loud that the thieves were able to hear him. Fortunately, they were not within range for the guards to notice them. "Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I can't allow that trash to ransack my castle! Strengthen the security! Kill them on sight! And if you happen to find that foreign trash amongst them, kill him and take those band of freaks from him while you're at it! I'll reward whoever does the deed. Especially if you find another one of those Vermints that appeared in my castle."
"Praise be to King Kamoshida!"
"Death to the intruders!"
His loyal followers proclaimed as they began to disperse.
"Hey, Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him and call it a day?" Skull whispered to him as he and his teammate were hiding from a safe distance. "That asshole's startin' to get on my nerves."
"Look at all those soldiers, idiot! It'd be suicide. And I'm sure we don't want a repeat of last time." Mona retorted. "Besides, don't you want him to confess his sins? There's no point in beating him up. We need to steal his materialized desires… The Treasure."
"Do you have an idea where it could be, Mona?" King asked.
"For one thing, the chances of us encountering the Treasures in these floors are impossible." He replied, disappointing Skull for thinking that they could get to the Treasure so easily. "It has to be somewhere in the depths of this castle. Let's infiltrate further while he's out here!"
"Okay." Joker proceeded to walk forward to the door across the hallway. Unfortunately, he widened his eyes when he came face to face with a guard as soon as he opened the door.
"Huh!?" The masked knight exclaimed as the Joker tried to balance himself.
"All right, let's take it down!" Mona said as he rushed past Joker and proceeded to swing his sword towards the guard, knocking it off balance and causing it to stumble back. Then, black ooze started to spill behind the mask, covering the body until it materialized into the blue clad fairy that they encountered previously.
"Way to go, Mona! Now let's beat it's ass!" Skull cheered.
"This time, let's bring in our guns!" Mona ordered as he pulled out his slingshot.
Joker then pulled out the same model gun he has earlier while Skull realized that he has a model shotgun in hand.
"Hell yeah! This is effin' rocks!"
"I don't have a gun, but I do have Pokémon." King then pulled out a Poké Ball. "Help us out, Skuntank!" He threw the Poké Ball forward as Skuntank came out.
"(All right, let's do this A—I mean King!)" Skuntank stated before slipping her tongue. "(Damn it! Really have to get used to calling by their code names while we're in this place.)"
"Get wrecked!" Skull shouted as he shot the Shadow with his gun, causing it to fall down on the floor.
"All right. Let's—" But just as Joker was about to open fire, the unthinkable happened…
"W-Wait! D-Don't kill me!" The fairy begged, putting its hand together. Joker, Skull, and King widened their eyes in shock, having not realized that the Shadows could actually feel fear, let alone begging for mercy.
"Okay… This has never happened before." King commented as he prepared to command his Pokémon to attack.
"Yeah, right! Like we're gonna fall for that one!" Skull retorted as he returned to reality before putting his guard up. "Careful, Joker. I wouldn't trust whatever words that came out of that Shadow's mouth."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Skull. Even though the Shadows are beings created by negative emotion, they can still have the fear of death like humans do." Mona pointed out. "In fact, this is a great opportunity to show you guys another tactic. Something I like to call a "Hold Up"."
"A Hold Up?" Joker repeated while still putting his guard up on the Shadow.
"That's right. Just watch me and do what I do." Mona approached the downed Shadow before clearing his throat. "All right, you Shadow! If you want to live, you better give us the goods. Whether it be real money or an item. Whichever is good."
"O-Oh really? You'll let me go if I give you something?" The fairy questioned before it realized it has nothing to offer to them. "S-Sorry! I don't have anything valuable on me! I usually do… most of the time!"
"Well, that went south real fast." King commented as the three boys turned to Mona.
The cat-like then scratched behind his ear in embarrassment before coughing a little bit. "Um… In my head, I saw this differently. I-I suppose we'll just have to kill it then."
"C-Come on! Don't be like that!" The Shadow whined.
"Sorry, we're in a bit of a hurry. So, it'll be faster to just eliminate you right here right now." Mona replied.
"Shit, Mona. You savage." Skull commented.
"Agreed." King added.
"H-Hold on! Can't we work something out!? Don't kill me, please! Won't you let me go?" The Shadow tried to make a bargain with them.
"Mona… Is there any real danger of leaving the Shadow alive?" Joker asked, feeling a little bit sympathetic towards the Shadow.
"Well… If we just spare the Shadow instead of killing it, it usually returns in a distorted formless state. To be honest, we won't have to worry about enemies getting away or helping out other enemies in the long run." Mona explained. "But the choice is yours, Joker."
"In that case…" He then turned towards the Shadow. "You can go."
"Dude, are you for real?" Skull questioned his friend's decision.
"I dunno about you Skull, but I have a feeling that Joker did the right thing." King commented.
"Wow! Really? Thank you!" The Shadow turned its gaze towards Joker with a smile. "You know, you're not so bad after all underneath all that seriousness. I think you and I can… can…" The fairy suddenly froze with eyes shining in a realization. "Wait a second…"
"Um… Mona. That Shadow's actin' all weird now." Skull pointed out.
"What in the world…?" Mona muttered.
"Get ready." King stated, doing his best to prepare for the worst.
"That's right. I don't belong just to King Kamoshida…" The Shadow declared as it rose from the ground before a blue aura began to surround its body. "I'm an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity's souls… My real name… is Pixie! I am thou, thou art I! From now on, I'll live on inside your soul!" After the proclamation, the Shadow then was enveloped in a blue energy before it took shape, in the form of Joker's mask. The mask immediately flew towards Joker before it was being absorbed by the mask on his face. The frizzy haired boy felt the sensation that briefly occurred before disappearing from his body.
"Joker! You okay over there?" King asked him as he and others rushed towards Joker's side.
"Hey, Mona! You didn't say anythin' about that! What was that about!?" Skull complained.
"How should I know!? This is a first for me too, you know!" Mona snapped back while Joker tried to process what just happened. But then, a guard just walked in from the hallway and noticed them.
"Intruders!? Halt!" The passing knight shouted at them, catching them off guard.
"Oh shoot! We got spotted!" King exclaimed as the guard melted away into a pair of Shadows, which were the form of twin-horned horses that they had fought three days ago.
"Death to the intruders! Death to the enemies of the Great King Kamoshida!" One of the horse Shadows roared before trying to ram towards King.
"Oh no! We're not falling for that again!" King retorted before he issued a command for Skuntank to follow. "Intercept it with Sucker Punch!"
"(You got it, King!)" The Skunk Pokémon said as she immediately head butt into the charging Shadow, causing it to get slightly knocked backwards.
"Welp, looks like Dark-type moves don't do much against these guys." King commented.
Just as Joker was about to summon Arsene, he felt the presence of something else within him. He quickly realized it was that Shadow that got absorbed into his mask earlier.
"Summon her forth! Focus on her name and image, and then unleash her into the battlefield!" Arsene instructed him as the frizzy haired teen decided to do just that.
"Pixie!" Joker shouted as he pulled out his mask, causing it to erupt in blue flames. The others were in shock as the Shadow that they managed to defeat earlier in battle came out from the flames.
"Whoa! Isn't that the Shadow from before!?" Skull exclaimed once again.
"Don't tell me… Did Joker able to absorb the Shadow's strength and appearance and made it into a Persona!?" Mona speculated.
"Well, I'll be…" King could only stare in awe at the sight.
"Ravage them!" Joker commanded.
"Okay! Here I go~!" Pixie then unleashed a bolt of electricity that struck one of the two-horned horse Shadows from her palms, damaging it greatly and also causing it to fall down.
"Skull, struck the other one so we can go in for an All-Out Attack!" Joker told his friend.
"Y-Yeah! I got you, Joker." Skull snapped back to reality before proceeding to rip his mask his off, summoning his own Persona. "Let's go, Captain Kidd!"
The skeletal Persona proceeded to blast the other Shadow with Zio, causing the Shadow to not only suffered a big damage but also fell down to the floor as the result.
"Now's our chance!" King told his friends as he has Skuntank charged towards the downed Shadows with Joker, Skull, and Mona in tow. Together, they inflicted massive damage on the Shadows, defeating instantly as they let out bloodcurdling screams.
Joker took a deep breath as Pixie faded away, but not before giving him a wink. He then saw his friends rushing back towards him.
"Dude, that was badass! I didn't know that you can have more than one Persona!" Skull complimented.
"You could say that we didn't see this coming." King added. [3]
"Hey, Mona! Why didn't you tell us anything about this!?" The dyed blonde teen asked.
"Oh, shut up, Skull! I'm just as surprised as you about this!" Mona retorted. "I don't know what to make of this. Only one heart exists per person, which means a person can only have one Persona!"
"But is it good?" Joker asked.
"Of course, it is! It's a massive game changer to have an incredible ability like that in battle!" Mona concluded excitedly. "The more Persona you have, the more weaknesses you can exploit against multiple Shadows! Imagine that possibility~!"
"So, it's like catching Pokemon, then? That's impressive on its own." King stated with a grin.
"Hell yeah! Then we'll just hold 'em all up when we get the chance!" Skull exclaimed as he slapped Joker's shoulder with an approving grin.
"Nyahaha! I'm so glad I met you three." Mona stated with a wide grin on his face. "And don't worry, Joker. We won't let that power go to waste. We'll get you the best Persona we can possibly find. With that said, let's go!"
The thieves then proceeded with their infiltration in the castle.
(Meanwhile, outside of the castle…)
"Well… I guess I'm back in…"
To say that Ann was confused by everything she saw would not begin to cover how she really felt. After those three boys pushed her out into the alley, the twin tailed girl immediately tried to chase after them, but found herself in the school grounds. Frankly, she wanted to know what those boys were up to. When she confronted them in the courtyard, they thought that they would let her help in dealing with Kamoshida, but instead they told her to not get involved. This only made her curious on what exactly they were trying to do. What was the place that she just saw? And how exactly does it help in taking down that perverted coach? Those are among the many questions that are currently running through her head.
But just as she was about to give up on finding the answers, Ann found a strange app on her phone. The platinum blonde girl recalled that this app might be the reason why she ended up in that castle. She then repeated the keywords that she recalled from when she overheard Ryuji saying something about it. Before she realized it, Ann found herself in the same castle where she followed the boys.
"So, it was real…" Ann muttered as she examined the castle. She then looked towards her phone. "What exactly did that phone app do?"
Whatever the case, Ann knew about one thing; that the app played a role in whatever those three boys were planning. In which case, it is a plan she refused to not be a part of. Especially if this could take Kamoshida down. "I'll find out what those three were up to… Whatever it takes…"
"(Gah!)" Ann heard a sound from a distance where she saw something flying from the window above the big door and fell towards her direction. When the mysterious object landed on the ground in front of her, Ann was able to get a good look at it.
It turned out to be a small, black salamander or some kind. Its body is dark grey with a black head and feet. Along its back and down its tail is an orange-red line. The marking splits into four short lines with round tips at the base of its tail. At the base of its neck are two short, flat spines, which create the impression of a mask or bandanna tied around its head. Its eyes are light purple with slit pupils and there are several tooth-like protrusions along its upper jaw. And each foot has four pointed toes.
"What is that?" Ann wondered aloud at the creature in front of her. She never saw anything like this.
"(Ah… Damn it. Those monsters really put a number on me…)" The "salamander" groaned before it stood up. It didn't take long for it to notice Ann's presence. "(A human?)"
"There's that lizard—" A pair of guards in knight attire came out from the main door, with the intent of capturing the salamander-like creature. But they stopped once they noticed someone else that was with it. "Princess?"
"What the!? Who the hell are you!?" Ann asked in fear, but it did nothing as they forgo the capture of the lizard and was rushing towards her instead.
"Princess!" The two guards called out to her as they immediately surrounded her.
"G-Get away from me!" The twin tailed girl cried out as she was powerless to stop those guards from taking her hand and carrying her into the castle.
The "salamander" was forced to watch as the human in front of it was taken to the castle against her own wishes. While the lizard-like creature has a bad experience when it comes to humans, it felt that this was wrong. That human... It was reminded of itself.
"(As much I don't trust humans, even I know they don't deserve a terrible fate…)" It tried to muster her strength for after her but it couldn't because of the damage it sustained from the guards. "(Damn it… I'll just have to recover for a while before going after her…)"
(With Joker and co.)
"Great! Way to go, Joker!" Skull cheered on Joker, who managed to negotiate with a Shadow which resulted in him obtaining a new Persona, which is called a Jack-o'-Lantern.
The group managed to defeat any Shadows with little effort, but they were unable to have Joker get another Persona until this happened. Most of the time, he was unable to cater to their desire with his choice of words, which makes them just throw some real-world money or an item towards Joker's way before fading into nothingness. Fortunately, he was able to succeed in his latest attempt.
"Well, "Practice makes perfect", after all." Mona commented. "Now come on, let's go a little further in."
They then proceeded to the next hallway, where there was a door that King knew very well.
"Guys, look over there!" King pointed to the others a rippling door that was on the end of the hallway. "I think that's the Safe Room when I first got into this world."
"Is that so? I think we should rest for a little bit." Mona proposed. "Or we could just keep going. Whichever works."
Before either of them could answer, voices and footsteps could be heard as they echoed through the hallway.
"Well, damn. More of those guards." King complained quietly. "I'd say we should make a run for the Safe Room ASAP."
"I agreed with King, we would want to avoid any unnecessary fight if we want to scour through the Palace in one day." Mona added.
"In that case, let's head to the Safe Room." Joker told his teammates as they proceeded to make their way through the hallway and entered the aforementioned room.
Once they entered it, they proceeded to lock the door in case the guards were able to enter the room but stay close so they could eavesdrop on the guards. Fortunately, it could be heard that the guards were passing through the hallway without noticing the door to the safe room, much to the relief of everyone.
"Damn. I might've underestimated just how many of those creeps are runnin' around." Skull admitted. "We're already gone through so many of 'em, yet it doesn't appear to be doing anything. How many of these Shadows do we have to go through?"
"Endless. I would prepare myself for a long day if I were you, Skull." Mona answered. "Even with a four-men team like this, we barely made it through a few rooms as is. We've still got a lot of ground to cover before we can establish an infiltration route."
"I see." King muttered. "I bet things would be harder if you went solo, huh?"
"When you put it like that, I guess it was a poorly thought-out plan." Mona admitted. "But I didn't have much of a choice. I need to regain my memories no matter what, and the only clue for it lies in the Palaces."
"Oh yeah, 'bout that though…" Skull began as he turned to Mona. "If you said you have amnesia, then why do you know so much about Palaces and other shits?"
"Really, Skull? That's an easy question." King reprimanded him. "I think while it's true that he has amnesia, he still remembers some important details. Like the importance of eating or going to the bathroom. The amount of information loss differs from person to person, depending on how severe it is. So, it's clear that even after suffering amnesia, Mona's knowledge of the cognitive world still remained intact."
"W-Wait, really? Damn…" Skull muttered while rubbing his head awkwardly.
"That's exactly what I think. Thank you, King." Joker complimented.
"See? So, stop being an idiot and just accept what I've told you so far." Mona replied with a triumphant grin. "Thank you for the explanation, King. It made Skull look dumb with your understanding of the concept."
"Can it, cat!" Skull retaliated. "You sure talk big, but what if you're just a stray cat in the end? Are you really sure that you're human?"
"I have to be a human! There's no doubt about it!" Even though Mona denied those claims, he felt that Skull was right about how unsure he is if he is actually a human.
"What was the Princess doing outside of the castle?" A voice, belonging to a guard, could be heard by the quartet (King has returned Skuntank to her Poké Ball at this point). "She normally stays at King Kamoshida's chamber and will not go out without his permission."
"Princess?" Skull repeated.
"I think they're talking about that cheap knockoff of Ann, who was created by Kamoshida's cognition." King told his friend about the Ann that was made in Kamoshida's cognition three days ago.
"Be quiet, you two." Mona reprimanded them as they continued to overhear the guards.
"When the others were chasing that poisonous fire lizard, I could have sworn we detected the readings of an intruder." The guard remarked.
"It doesn't matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida." The other guard retorted as they walked away from the door.
"Poisonous fire lizard…" King muttered as he immediately knew what kind of Pokemon with that description.
"I better look into this real quick! You three stay here where it's safe." Mona suggested as he slightly opened the door and slipped out of it before anyone can protest.
"I wonder what's that about?" Skull wondered to his teammates. "I remembered that the Fake Takamaki is Kamoshida's princess inside the Palace, but do you think they were referrin' to someone else? Like the real Takamaki?"
"Get real, Skull. They couldn't possibly talk about the real Ann." King stated, denying the possibility. "We sent her back to the real world earlier ago. I'm sure she's safe there."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that, King." They turned to Mona, who has returned to the Safe Room with a panicked tone in his voice. "Remember the lovely girl that you three kicked out from the Palace? Apparently, she went and got herself captured by the Shadows!"
Three boys widened their eyes at the "cat" after hearing that news.
"Seriously!? We made sure to put her back in that world!" King exclaimed.
"Unless… What if that app somehow found itself on her phone?" Joker theorized, causing the other members to look at him. "Skull earlier said that he found the app on his phone. I think it's because he entered the Palace together with me three days ago. I believe that the same can be said with Takamaki's case."
"So, that's how it works? Dammit!" Skull cursed. "The whole point of kicking her out was to make sure she stays out trouble!"
"At any rate, we should rescue her right now! Before something terrible happen to her." Joker proposed as the others nodded in agreement and began to follow his lead.
(With Ann)
The twin tailed was then placed into a "X" shaped platform where her limbs was immediately cuffed together there. Ann tried her best to struggle her way out of the cross but her shackles was too strong to break through.
"Let me go, you assholes! I didn't do anything wrong!" Ann shouted at the armored soldiers, but they ignored her. "If you don't, I'm calling the cops!"
"So… This is the one you caught instead of that exotic fire lizard?" A familiar voice asked, causing Ann to widened her eyes as she turned left and looked at the one person she didn't expect to see in a place such as this. Standing there was Kamoshida, albeit with an attire she considered very strange for someone like Kamoshida, or anyone for that matter.
"Kamoshida!?" Ann exclaimed as she then widened her eyes once more at the next person that came into her view. Said person was someone that looked exactly like her, with the exceptions that she wore a swimsuit and cat ears headband. "W-Who is that!? And why she's look like me!?"
"Oh my. I can't believe you mistook my sweet princess for a skank like her." Shadow Kamoshida stated. "Not to mention this one's pretty noisy too."
"Like I care about that! Where even is this place!? Isn't this supposed to be the school!?" The platinum blonde girl shouted once more.
"Ah Ah Ah. You should understand the position you're currently in, you ugly peasant." The golden eyed man ignored her while wagging his finger left and right as the guards standing beside the captive girl aimed their swords at near her throat, shutting her up with a gasp of fear from the poor girl. "There we go. I like that look on your eyes when you tremble in fear of me."
"This isn't funny, Kamoshida! Are you completely out of your damn mind!?" She muttered loudly.
"What are you talking about? This is my world. My castle. My words are the law around here!" Shadow Kamoshida sneered before sporting a malicious grin. "I can do whatever I please here. And to whoever I want."
"Oh, you're definitely insane all right!" Ann stated, continuing the struggle to break of herself. "Is this some red-light district of the town!? You better let me go right now, you creep!"
"My. You sure love to talk back to me with that tone. That's a huge offense to me in my castle." He then turned towards his "princess". "You hear that? She even called me names. What do you think of that, my dear?"
"Talking back is, like… totally unforgivable." The imposter answered with a loose and dumb version of Ann's speech.
"In that case… she should be executed."
Ann let out a gasp as a golden, armored soldier approached her with a sword in hand.
"Now then, how should I play with you? Shall I tear you into little pieces?" Shadow Kamoshida pondered on what to do with his captive. "Or maybe… Just took off your clothes and let me have some "moments" with you first. Yeah, that's a thought…"
"You're not serious about this… Are you…?" Ann muttered as she trembled with fear. With the way Kamoshida looking at her right now, she didn't doubt that he will act on his threats. And that's… scared her.
"Ann!/Takamaki!" Ann, as well as Shadow Kamoshida, turned to see three familiar boys and a cat-like creature, who just arrived on the scene.
"Y-You guys…" She muttered as she saw them.
"Tch! You knaves again!? How many times are you gonna come crawling back here like filthy cockroaches?" Shadow Kamoshida complained before he shifted his attention towards Ann. "I bet you came to my castle for the same reason as those thieves, right? Because you're so pissed at me at something, huh?" He continued. "Honestly, that's a stupid reason. Just like how that girl tried to kill herself… What was her name again? The girl that you tried so hard to help by dating me…?"
Ann felt the chill around her spine after hearing that. "Shiho?"
"Yeah, that's the one! The dumb, talentless girl who can't do anything right!" Shadow Kamoshida mocked while snapping his fingers. "Now before you tried pointing fingers at me like those three peasants that will soon be expelled, she jumped because of you, you know. It's all on you that today's ruckus happened."
"What…?" Ann muttered with eyes widened in shock. "How is it… my fault?"
"Hmm... How indeed?" Shadow Kamoshida replied with a sick grin. "Maybe you should've thought about it before you decided to reject my gracious offer of sleeping with me. Because of that, I had her take your place. It was pretty nice too, even if it's a quick feel. A shame she jumped before I got to enjoy her body to the fullest."
"Well, I'll be damned…" King muttered at that confession. While the thought of seeing female silhouettes in P.E. shirts and short less spanks doing rather… seductive poses and groans were bad enough, nothing could compare to this. This man… just brought sexual harassment on a whole new level.
"You bastard!" Ann shouted with sheer fury in her tone.
"Now Now. Don't get ornery with me, little lady." Shadow Kamoshida smirked as the golden knight reminded the girl of her place by holding its sword close to her neck. Ann's body froze yet again as her fear had completely swallowed her anger and hatred towards her.
"Takamaki!" Skull called out as everyone tried to rush in and save her. But…
"And as for you thieves, take another step and I won't hesitate to have my men decapitate her right now." Shadow Kamoshida warned them as they immediately backed off for now. "That's better. Now where was I… Ah yes! The part about that dumb girl. While I may have been the one that harassed her, you are the one who's at fault the most by refusing me. If it wasn't for that, none of this would have happened and I wouldn't have to resort to that. So, by doing so, you basically sacrifice your own best friend! That's right, peasant! You killed her! And not even that naive wench who called herself a teacher would do this bad! Hahahahaha!" [4]
"No… Shiho…" Ann muttered with tears beginning to spill from her eyes. Even after all the hard work she had to go through and the many humiliations she had to endure when dating someone she absolutely hates, it was all for nothing when her best friend still got herself hurt in the end. Her weakness caused this… She caused this. "I… didn't mean for this to happen… I didn't know he hurt you so badly…" Her body began to slack as she lost the will to fight back. "I'm sorry, Shiho. I'm so sorry…"
"Now that's a face I wanna see! Good girl…!" Shadow Kamoshida stated with excitement. "Men! It's time for this wench to pay for her friend's mistake! You can start by tearing through her clothing, one at a time!"
"My! You're such a perv!" The Fake Ann giggled as she watched the dismantlement.
Unbeknownst to them, a third party just entered the chamber, despite the injuries it has.
"(That… was a lot of effort into getting here.)" The "lizard" panted as it tried its best to not collapse on the floor. "(I even have to use Attract to get answers out of those hooligans…" It then looked up to see the scene was currently unfolding. "(That human girl was about to be executed! Just a little bit further…)" It said as it started heading towards the center of the chamber.
By this point, Ann didn't bother to fight back anymore. In her mind, she deserved the punishment that came her way. The price she had to pay for sending Shiho potentially to her death. Looking back, she realized that by refusing Kamoshida, she also created a series of events that led to her classmate, her middle school acquaintance, and her foreign upperclassman being expelled in the next few days. Her selfishness was what led to this mess. And those three boys are going down with her. "Shiho… I'm sorry…"
"Ann! Don't think for a second all of this was your fault!" Ann looked up to see King, who was shouting at her.
"B-But… He said that—"
"And you trusted him? Wake up, Ann!" King interrupted her. "You should know more about him than I do that he was nothing but a bully and a liar! He said it himself, he was the one who harassed Shiho, so don't EVER think this was all your fault!"
"King…" Joker mouthed.
"An impressive speech, King…" Mona nodded in approval.
"Believe me, I know how it feels. To feel that you're responsible for someone's downfall. It's because… I was in your shoes before, once upon a time." King admitted as he recalled a certain memory. "You see… a dear friend of mine passed away a long time ago. When she died, I felt that it was my fault. It's because of my selfishness that I couldn't do much else for her to fight back her illness. I felt that… she died before she could ever achieve her dream…Maybe she died for nothing. But Shiho, on the other hand, still has a chance to live."
"Wilbert-senpai…" Ann muttered as she had no idea about her upperclassman's past.
"And besides, Shiho wouldn't want you to blame yourself for something she did. Especially when she tried to commit suicide earlier." King pointed out. "I don't know if this is a right thing to say, but I can see the fire inside of you, Ann."
"My fire…?" Ann repeated. This was the first time someone said something like that before.
"That's right. Like the ever-burning fires of the sun, you tried your best to brighten Shiho's day. But sometimes your best wasn't enough. And if anyone's to blame, that would be Kamoshida, for stooping so low as to resort to a dirty tactic." He stated, as he recalled getting a similar talk from someone he idolized. "So, here's the question: Are you going to let him extinguish the fire in your heart? Or are you going to let said fire burn bright and burn him up instead?"
Ann was silent as she let those words sink in. She had let Kamoshida manipulate her into thinking that everything bad happened was her fault. Something about what King said had made her rethink a few things. But on an important note; Should she have to focus everything that happened in her life on herself? After all, it was Kamoshida who harassed Shiho to the point where she had to jump over the roof to get away from the perverted teacher. After all, it was him who wanted to expel those three students she heard despite having a legitimate reason to do so.
"… You're right. I've been letting this piece of shit toy with me…" She weakly laughed. "What was I even thinking back then? God, I'm such an idiot."
"Hmph! Like you have any power to stand against me! All of you peasants are beneath—"
"Wanna bet, asshole!?" Ann interrupted him quickly. "Shiho went through hell because of you! Everything that happened in the school is all your goddamn fault! You pissed me off, you creepy, perverted has-been!"
"What the hell did you just call me, you filthy peasant!?" Shadow Kamoshida snapped at the captive girl, but she was unfazed by the response. But just as he was about to issue an order to his golden armored knight…
"My… It's taken far too long." Ann suddenly felt a sudden headache that struck her head, with a shocking gasp. And since those shackles prevented her from gripping her head, it only made the pain more severe.
"Tell me… Who's going to avenge her if you don't?" The more the voice inside her head spoke, the more severe the pain became. Ann's entire body began to struggle to break free from the restraints. "Forgiving him was never the option…"
"Hey, guys. Do you think she's going to have what I think she's going to have?" King asked as he and the others were all too familiar with the signs.
"Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within…"
"Your guesses are as good as mine, King." Joker replied as they continued to see Ann struggle her way out. "She's going to have one as well…"
"I am thou, thou art I…" The voice let out the signature vow not unlike Arsene and Captain Kidd as Ann screamed in pain before falling limp against the restraints. "We can finally forge a contract…"
"I hear you… Carmen." Ann suddenly muttered before blue flames started swirling above her head. When she snapped her head up, the flames took shape in the form of a red candy mask that appeared on her face. The designs are that of a cat. "You're right. No more holding back!"
"There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself." The voice continued as Ann ripped her wrists out of the cuffs through a surprise burst of strength, pulling them out one at a time before using one hand to reach out to her mask. "Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength." After saying that sentence, Ann proceeded to pull off her mask with all her strength, letting out a cry of pain as blood came out from her brows before blue flames erupting around her.
At the center of the rising flames, Ann revealed herself with a figure towering over her. Ann's outfit has completely changed, now sporting a red, skin tight latex bodysuit. Her chest was exposed at the top and zippers ran up and down through her body. She also wore pink gloves, dark red thigh high boots, and a clip-on tail that was hanging on her bottom.
Standing tall behind her was Ann's Persona. It was a female figure, wearing a long wavy black and red dress that was revealing at the chest, showing off her voluptuous breasts. Her hair was black tied in twin drills, a brown cigar that she constantly chomped on, and she also wore a similar cat mask like Ann, except hers was black with red outline. On her hand was a thin wire that was wrapped around a black suited man with pink heart shaped head waving at one hand, while the other end connected to a similar shaped figure that Carmen stepped on like a dominatrix.
"(I… Incredible!)" The fire lizard muttered at what it just witnessed. It was hoping to lend a hand to the human girl, but it didn't expect that said human managed to get herself free out of her restraints.
Ann glared up at the Shadows before she headed towards one of the guards, where she kicked the sword out in the air from its hands. She proceeded to ran towards Shadow Kamoshida's direction before jumping high into the air to grab the sword mid-falling. Which then she used to cut down the cheap imitation of herself, screaming in agony before fading into nothing. Shadow Kamoshida took a step back in fear as the guards rushed in to protect him.
"You know what? I'm not some cheap girl that you can toy with and throw away…you scumbag!" Ann snarled as she glared towards Shadow Kamoshida while she stood up to face him.
"Bitch…!" Kamoshida cursed her.
"You stole everything from Shiho… and you even defiled her in ways that were beyond belief…" Ann dropped the sword she was holding as the other four walked towards her side. The platinum blonde girl herself started to approach the self-proclaimed king. "It's your turn. I'll rob you of everything!"
"How dare you! Enough of this insolence!" The golden knight proclaimed as he and his two underlings submerged into several pools of black ooze. The gray armored knights transformed into a two horned horse and red, winged devil that the group encountered so many times. The golden armored knight, on the other hand, transformed into something that was completely different. It was a purple skinned demon, which oddly enough, was sitting on a toilet as if it's part of him. Not that it will discourage the others from fighting it.
"No. I had enough of you!" Ann retorted. "It's time you bastards feel the raging flames of my heart!" She boasted before crouching forward towards her enemies. "Let's go, Carmen!"
To be continued…
Next: Chapter 8: Infiltration Preparations
So that's about it about today's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I have. Sorry for the delay. I was busy trying the Persona 5 Strikers that became available for free in this month's PS Plus.
For those who doesn't know, Ann was my favorite female character in the game. And Makoto shared her spot with another female member as 2nd favorite.
[1] From now on, the characters will be referred by their codenames when they are in the Palaces or somewhere in the Metaverse.
[2] The numbers of the shirt are the inverse of "629", which is the number I used for Pokémon Shield.
[3] See what I did there? It's a recurring theme for this game.
[4] For those who have watched Spider-Man: No Way Home, I think you know what scene I'm referencing. Also, I think you know who is the "naive wench" that Shadow Kamoshida referred to.
Lastly, a guest reader asked me if I should have Ace awakened to his Persona. I've been thinking about this so I'll just let myself clear about the answer once and for all. The answer is a big NO! I'm not planning to have Ace awakened to his Persona because he was already powerful enough with his team of 6 Pokemon. Especially since he still has a certain item that he forgot to return to where it belongs. So please, don't bring this up ever again.
If you want ask some questions and you're a guest reader, I suggest that you make a proper account on so you can PM me the questions. You're likely to get answers that way.
As always, don't forget leave a review and I'll see you next time.