I am Thou, Thou art I Chapter 2 (original chapter Chapter 122)

With Gallant

A Handful of Minutes Previously

Dean Stansfield, the Ward known as Gallant, stumbled back as a blast of wind or something erupted from Taylor Hebert, throwing all of the Wards back. He flinched, his empathy showing him that not only was the girl in front of him in immense pain, but her emotions were in a tumult. She was swerving between rage, fury, despair, loneliness, heartbreak and a few more that he was too overwhelmed to parse.

Then Taylor looked up and he saw the mask that had suddenly appeared on her face. It was a half-face mask, covering from the crown of her head to halfway down her cheeks. It was split into three sections; the right side was a white bat-like wing, while the left was a black bird-like wing. In the center, right in the middle of where Taylor's forehead would be, was an odd symbol. It looked like a red stylized eye, with the central iris in the shape of a star, which seemed to glare out at anyone looking at it. Eyeholes cut into the mask allowed its wearer to see.

Suddenly realizing that she had something on her face, Taylor reached up and tugged at the mask with her shaking hands and it didn't budge, which Gallant found odd. The mask didn't seem to have any straps to secure it to her face, so it should have come off as soon as she tugged it.

The girl tugged at it a second time, harder, and it still didn't come off. Clearly in a panic, she pulled at it with all of her strength and, with the sound of something tearing, the mask was finally removed from Taylor Heber's face…along with almost all of the skin where the mask had rested. Blood dropped down her face, making a pair of lines on her face almost reminiscent of tear tracks.

"Sweet Mother of Jesus!" Vista cursed.

Gallant kept his eyes on the girl before them as, abruptly, her emotions vanished from his empathic senses. No…vanished isn't the right word…they were quelled. All of her doubts, all of her fear, all of her hatred, had been suppressed…as if they were being muted by something.

Then Taylor Hebert grinned wildly and was covered in blue-black fire.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" Aegis growled as the girl was engulfed in flames. "Did she Trigger right in front of us?!"

"No clue but- oh hell." Clockblocker said.

The Wards turned their attention back to Taylor as the flames receded from her. She was clad in black leather clothes and boots now, with a leather coat flapping in an unseen wind. A metal gauntlet of some kind was attached to her right arm. Her mask was back on her face and now her eyes glowed a bright yellow. The fire that had covered her swirled into a pillar next to her and in a matter of seconds formed into a humanoid shape. In the next instant, it turned into a semitransparent female figure that stood larger than life next to Taylor Hebert.

Dark amber eyes glared down at the Wards, as raven black hair moved in an invisible breeze. Ratty black and red clothes fluttered wildly and her left arm was loosely wrapped in bandages.

"I am the Lord of Calamity, Velvet Crowe!" the woman declared as she looked down at Taylor, who looked back at her unflinchingly. "I am the soul of rebellion that resides within you, the soul of the rebel that defies the world! If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis. What say you, Holder of the Trump Card of the Arcana…what say you, Joker?"

Taylor…no, she was Joker right now, as that woman had called her…bared her teeth. She didn't smile, she didn't smirk; she bared her teeth in a rictus of a smile, one that combined fury and a dark desire. "Velvet, give me your power! I will not be bound here!"

"Humph. Very well." Velvet Crowe said as she turned her eyes onto the Wards, her gaze scathing and utterly unimpressed. She clenched her left arm and it transformed into a large, misshapen claw-like limb that positively oozed malevolence, even although Gallant couldn't read any emotions from the see-through figure. "As your Persona, I shall cut a path for you!"

"Wards, this is your last chance. Stand aside or I will defend myself!" Joker turned to face the Wards with a serious look in her eyes.

"Screw you, Hebert!" Shadow Stalker howled and shot a quarrel at her.

With Taylor

The world seemed to slow down as the bolt flew right at my head. What should I do? I couldn't dodge it

"Detest your enemy." Velvet's voice whispered into my head. "Turn that animosity into power and turn it on your foe! I am the expression of thy power and will act accordingly. Trust in me, my contractor."

"…OK." I breathe. I focus on my hatred of Sophia Hess, who was now trying to kill me openly. How much I detested her for the fifteen months of torture, for how she somehow stole and twisted my best friend into someone I can't recognise as the same person I had once known. It roiled within me, seeking an outlet…and I directed it at the arrow aiming to slay me.

"[Blade Dance]!" Velvet growled, slicing the arrow in half with her claw before vanishing and appearing next to Shadow Stalker and lashed out with her other arm, a long blade appearing from the gauntlet there. Shadow Stalker was quick, but my Persona was quicker, her weapon cutting a line down the former Vigilante's arm.

"That is for daring to strike at my contractor, scum." Velvet informed her before reappearing at my back. "Joker, these enemies are beneath you. Strike them down so we may advance."

"BITCH!" Shadow Stalker screamed and entered her Shadow State before firing another arrow at me.

"Let it strike you." Velvet said suddenly in my head. "It shall not harm you, not like it is."

Puzzled by my Persona's words, but trusting in them, I didn't even attempt to dodge the bolt, which struck me in the center of my mask. I didn't feel any pain at all. I didn't even feel any kind of impact. Rather, I felt…invigorated. As if I had just drunk a triple expresso in a single gulp!

"Shadows, malevolence and darkness… all are under my domain." Velvet said aloud. "As I am your Persona, you can absorb attacks from your enemies that use the Death or Curse element. Doing so will invigorate you. You can even take small amounts of their darkness when you strike at them personally."

"Noted." I smirked.

"Stalker! Stop shooting at her head!" Aegis ordered angrily. "We're taking her in, so stop trying to kill her! Even Tranquillizer bolts can kill her if they hit her head!"

"She just fucking ate my shadow bolt and that's what you're taking away from it?!" the shadow Breaker demanded.

"I think it's time that you feel a bit of my pain, Sophia." I said with a snarl, sending my rage forth again. "Velvet!"

"[Eiha]!" Velvet snarled and slammed her claw-arm onto the ground. "Be cursed by darkness!"

From beneath Shadow Stalker, a wave of darkness erupted and engulfed her. The girl screamed in pain as the darkness died down and collapsed trembling on to the ground.

"She isn't weak to Curse, but she isn't resistant to it either." Velvet noted clinically as she straightened up. "Useful information. Contractor, we should leave. Your vengeance has only just begun and these others are not your prey."

"That's true." I nodded. "How though?"

"You are now linked to an awakened Persona; your physical abilities have slightly improved, plus you are invigorated from absorbing that Darkness from a moment ago." Velvet replied. "Leap and ascend to the heights, Joker."

I confess to being a bit doubtful; my physical abilities were below average for someone of my age, but Velvet hadn't steered me wrong so far, so I decided to trust her words. Steeling myself, I turned and jumped at the wall of the alley. I jumped farther faster than I thought and kicked off the wall almost instantly. My reflexes seem to have been improved as well, I noted.

Leaving the Wards behind, I made it to the roof of the building next to me and started to run again. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as easy as that, as Aegis and Kid Win, standing on his hover board, followed me.

"Stop resisting arrest!" Aegis shouted as he flew at me.

"And get put into a vulnerable position near Shadow Stalker? Fuck that!" I shouted back. "Velvet!"

"[Blade Dance]!" she shouted, striking at the flying Cape with claw and blade. One arm came off and he was forced to stop his pursuit to retrieve it.

"You know a Ward's civilian identity! Now you're as Cape, the Protectorate will be after you!" Kid Win said grimly before firing his goddamn laser pistol at me! I was lucky to have something to block the blasts with, as I ducked behind a metal pipe that the low-powered blasts of focused and concentrated light slammed into ineffectually.

"Have them investigate Stalker before me, Kiddo!" I snarked back. "Ravage him, Persona!"

"[Eiha]!" Velvet shouted, unleashing another blast of shadows from beneath the Tinker. He yelped in pain and lost his concentration for a critical moment, slamming into an air conditioning machine and ended up sprawled out face-first on the rooftop.

"Sorry, but you forced my hand." I said softly before turning and leaving the scene at a run, Velvet glaring at the heroes before turning completely transparent and fading from view.

Later

Wards Base, PRT ENE Building

"Well that was a grand-scale cock-up." Dennis said as he slumped into a chair.

"No kidding." Missy sighed. As soon as they had reentered the building, Piggot had torn a strip off of them for tearing off from a scheduled PR event without asking permission and had then had Armsmaster slap a bracelet on Shadow Stalker and taken the swearing and protesting girl away.

"Panacea's gonna be here soon." Chris told Carlos, who was still clutching his severed arm.

"Good to hear." The Wards leader said tightly. "Dean, Dennis, mind taking the lead on the analysis?"

"Sure dude." Dean nodded at him. Having removed his armor earlier, the empath pulled out the whiteboard and write Taylor's name and her codename to one side, with two columns at its side, Powers and Weaknesses.

"OK, so…Taylor Hebert, aka Joker." He said. "What do we have?"

"That whole 'tearing the mask off her face even though it was bonded to her skin' thing was freaky as hell." Dennis pointed out. "It healed as soon as that weird blue fire covered her."

"So high pain tolerance and at least some kind of healing ability, check." Dean nodded as he wrote it on the board.

"The clothes she wore changed." Missy piped up. "One minute they're baggy jogging clothes, the next they're skintight black leather. Shaker powers, I think."

"Good catch." The empath nodded as he wrote the first power classification they could confirm for Joker. Shaker: 1.

"Let's not forget that big-ass projection of hers." Chris added. "Definitely a Master rating for that. It teleported, cut through Stalker's armour, gives Joker the ability to no-sell and empower herself through absorbing shadow-based powers and it can use that weird shadow attack of hers. Not to mention the fact it seems to be sentient and it can go invisible."

Silently, Dean added to the board. Master 4 (Sub-ratings of Mover 3, Striker 3, Breaker/Trump 4, Blaster 4, Stranger 4)

"She was also faster and more athletic than you would expect her to be." Carlos said. "She was stick thin and yet had the ability to leapfrog up those buildings like a trained acrobat."

"I think even an acrobat would have trouble." Dean commented as he added Mover: 2 to the profile. "Chris, did the name of that projection…I think she called it a Persona or something…sound familiar to you at all? Sometime people subconsciously base these things out of mythology and the media."

"I looked it up as we were on our way back." The redheaded Tinker replied. "There is one reference to 'Velvet Crowe', spelt with an 'e' at the end of 'Crowe', in my search; it's the name of the protagonist in an Earth Aleph Japanese Role Playing Game. She was betrayed by those closest to her, turned into a daemon called a 'Therion' that had the ability to devour other daemons and was made into a villain due to her desire for revenge against the man who betrayed, who the rest of the world knew as a savior. I'm…seeing a lot of parallels here."

Dean grimaced. "So…you think she honestly thinks Stalker framed her?"

"Looking at the evidence, yes." Chris sighed. "If Joker herself didn't attack this Emma Barnes character, then someone else did and then managed to get the knife into her locker at Winslow. Of course, anyone who knew the combination could do that, but according to Winslow's records, one Taylor Anne Hebert changed her locker combination just that morning. Either she did do it or Stalker used her Breaker state to put the knife there. It also fits in with Stalker's character."

"Dean, what emotions was she going through at the end there?" Carlos asked.

"She was…it's hard to say." The empath frowned. "Right up until she tore the mask off, she was easily readable and she was feeling so many negative emotions that it made me a bit ill; it was like a tumultuous maelstrom of negative emotions in her head. Once she took the mask off though…it was like someone hit the mute button. I could still tell she was feeling negative emotions, but not what they were, exactly. It was kinda like looking through clouded glass; you can tell that something's moving on the other side, but not what it looks like exactly."

"So…she's resistant to your empathic abilities?" Dennis raised an eyebrow. "Do you think she'd be resistant to your emotion blasts?"

Dean considered that. "The emotional component…maybe. Not the physical component though. Not that it means much; the physical part of my blasts is the same strength as a fairly weak punch."

"Thinker rating then?" Missy asked.

"Thinker 1 for now." Carlos agreed.

As Dean finished putting the last rating on the board, the alarm sounded. It indicated that the wards should mask up because people were about to enter. There was a rather undignified scramble for masks before Miss Militia walked in, with Panacea following after her.

"Miss Militia." Aegis nodded at her. He had a crush on the older woman, but never let it show.

"Aegis." The Protectorate Cape nodded back at him as Panacea quickly started reattaching his arm. "So she's a Cape now…did she Trigger in front of you?"

"There was no Trigger Shock." Gallant shook his head, referring to the phenomenon where other Parahumans lost consciousness or became heavily dizzy when someone Triggered nearby. "I would guess that she Triggered sometime in the last two weeks…except for the fact that this seemed to be the first time she used her powers. She was totally surprised by them from what I could see."

That made an eyebrow go up as she looked at the wide variety of powers that Joker seemed to possess. "The first time…why 'Joker' for her codename?"

"Her projection called her that." Vista shrugged. "Called her the 'Holder of the Trump Card of the Arcana' and then 'Joker'."

A second eyebrow joined the first. "The Fool?"

"Beg pardon?" Clockblocker said in surprise.

"The Major Arcana are twenty-two in number, and the only unnumbered one out of the lot is the Arcana of the Fool, which can be valued as either one or twenty-one." Miss Militia explained. "That's why it's sometimes called the Trump Card of the Arcana, more colloquially as the 'Joker' of the Arcana. Another way of referring to it would be a Wild Card."

"Does it have any other meanings?" Aegis asked.

"In cartomancy, it's usually used to represent the protagonist of a story." The heroine replied. "The other Major Arcana are usually the path that the protagonist has to go through, which is known as the Fool's Journey."

"So…she's basically declared us secondary characters. Lovely." Clockblocker deadpanned. "I vote we not wear red shirts when this girl's around. Might want to get a change of paint for that armor of yours, Kid; men in red shirts die first in stories."

"That's just a trope." The Tinker shot back instantly. "And you've been watching old reruns of Star Trek again, haven't you?"

"Gimme a break, it's really good for its time." The Striker huffed.

As they fell into that old argument again, Panacea finished her ministrations on Aegis' arm. Stepping back, she watched the Adaptable Regenerator flex and twist his hand and wrist experimentally.

"Good as new…better even." Aegis noted. "Thanks Panacea."

"No problem. Eat a bit more than usual to compensate for the biomass I used in reattaching it and you'll be fine." The tired voice of the healer said with obvious patience. "And try not to let someone cut it off again."

"I'll try, but no promises." The soon-to-be Protectorate member said dryly.

"So this…Joker…is the one who did this?" Panacea asked as she glanced at the board. "Taylor Hebert? I've heard that name recently…"

"She was accused of stabbing someone." Clockblocker said flippantly. "Considering that it's Winslow that we're talking about, the only reason such a fuss is being made is because of her lawyer daddy."

"No, it's about something medical related…oh." She brightened up as she remembered. "Now I know where I heard it! She was hospitalized for a week, unconscious for three of those days, and I had to check her while she was down for the count to see if she had any infections."

"Considering we know that she's a Cape now, did she have an active Corona Pollentia then?" Aegis asked.

"No, it was completely inactive." Panacea shook her head. "I'd think being on the run for two weeks is stress enough to make someone Trigger though."

"That would make her a Tinker though, and she had nothing on her." Kid Win objected. "Stress-based Triggers are commonly Tinker Triggers."

"They can cause other Triggers as well, depending on the situation." Gallant reminded him. "Anyway, thanks for coming over to help, Panacea."

Suppressing a frown, Panacea nodded curtly and headed out to go home.

Later

Velvet Room

"Again?" I muttered as I was raised into a vertical position.

"Hehehehe…welcome to the Velvet Room once again." Igor smirked at me. "I see you have awakened to your power…the power of Persona. You have questions, of course."

"What is a Persona?" I asked bluntly.

"Ask a hundred people what their personality is and you shall receive a hundred different answers." The man said as he laced his fingers together beneath his chin. "In the same way, a hundred different people shall possess a hundred different Persona. Persona are manifestations of their users' personalities, but they do differ from world to world. In the last world I visited, for example, they were 'masks' for the heart; armor that is worn when confronting the world. In this world, the Persona is different yet again."

"H-how so?" I asked, really wishing that I wasn't trapped here on a table.

"Here, on the World of Earth Bet, your Persona is a manifestation of the armor of your heart and the struggles you undergo to remain yourself. It reflects the way that you perceive yourself at the time of awakening." Igor explained. "The deeper the wounds of your heart, the more powerful your Persona is, as your 'armor' has evolved to protect you from the world."

"R-remain…myself?" I blinked.

"Certainly. The last, what? Sixteen months? Have they been anything like what you would have liked for them to be?" Igor asked with one bushy eyebrow raised. "In all that time, you have struggled to adapt to the world around you and yet remain yourself. Most allow time and others to change them, so their Persona would be weak. You have a very strong Persona because despite everything that you have endured, you have done everything in your power to remain true to yourself. A very admirable trait, it must be said."

Blushing, I looked away.

"As I said when last we met, I shall now start your rehabilitation." Igor said after a brief chuckle. "You shall train in how to properly use your Persona and in how to acquire more."

"Wait, what?" I blinked. "I thought that each person could have only one Persona?"

"That is generally the case, but not for you." Igor replied calmly. He reached under his desk and pulled out a stack of cards before throwing them into the air, where they spun into a circle that rotated as he spoke. "Fool, Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, Fortune, Justice, Hunger, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement, Aeon and World. All Persona fall under the auspices of one of these Major Arcana. Can you recall which yours is?"

"Fool." I answered.

"Exactly." the man nodded. "The Major Arcana [The Fool] is unique amongst its fellows in that those who wield its power can carry multiple Persona, up to seven at once, with them. The purpose of this Velvet Room is to hold up to twelve more Persona for you."

"That still leaves five though." I pointed out.

"In order to rehabilitate, you must learn to trust people again." Igor stated. "The five Persona that are not carried by you or held here in the Velvet Room must be awoken by their holders. That is something you will have to do sooner or later, so I suggest that you make efforts to that end."

"How?! I'm wanted for Assault with a Deadly weapon!" I said indignantly. "And now I'm probably going to be charged with Assaulting the Protectorate Wards to boot."

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step, child." Igor replied. "As I am not heartless…allow me to bestow something upon you. It is why it took me over a month to reach you. I had to track down a very special Persona for you…one who lost her Holder quite some time ago."

With a click of his fingers, Caroline and Justine trooped over to a cell outside of my vision and a woman wearing a toga floated out. She wore a headscarf and a veil and carried a plain wooden staff in one hand.

"Oh my…Taylor…" she said, one hand rising to cover her mouth in shock.

"Under the auspices of the [Empress] Arcana, I hereby present to you the Persona of Annette Rose Hebert, Hestia." Igor smirked, making my eyes widen in shock.

"This…this was Mom's Persona?" I asked faintly.

"Her Shadow, to be precise." Justine stated. "Unless they Awaken their Persona as you did, their Persona remains in the back of their mind, feelings hidden, words unspoken. We could not prevent your mother's death, for that I am sorry, but we could and did manage to salvage her Shadow."

"A fragment of her remains within it, Inmate, so be glad for that." Caroline snapped. "Fortunately for you, she recognizes you for being her Holder's daughter so you don't have to fight her to be able to use her!"

"Indeed." Hestia nodded. "As your mother is no longer with us, I shall protect you in her stead…should you wish it."

"Yes…please." I rasped out. Turn down the last fragment of my mother? I would be a fool to do anything other than accept her.

"Very well." The Persona of my mother said. "Then vow to me…I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow."

As she spoke, a sliver of light left her and entered the cell she had just vacated.

"It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity." Hestia chanted. "With the birth of the [Empress] Persona within thee, thou hast obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power!"

In a flash of light, Hestia transformed into a copy of my mask and was absorbed into me. I felt a rush of power that left me breathless for a moment. It was…really intense.

"Kehehehehehe…this round of rehabilitation is already proving to be most fascinating…" Igor chuckled to himself.

And that's a wrap for the moment. Whew. This just came pouring out as soon as I put my mind to it. Well, some stories flow better than others, and this is evidently one of them.

Here's Hestia's Persona File.

Persona Name: Hestia

Current Holder: Taylor Anne Hebert

Previous Holder: Annette Rose Hebert

Arcana: Empress

Level: 2

Strength: 2

Magic: 3

Endurance: 2

Agility: 2

Luck: 3

Absorbs: None

Reflects: Fire

Weak Against: Ice, Water

Initial Skills: Agi (Light Fire Damage to one foe, slight chance of Burn), Tarunda (Debuff attack of one foe for a certain period of time), Dia (Restore slight amount of Health to one ally)