Persona Trinity

by IIIIIIIIII

Six months have passed since the defeat of Yaldabaoth and the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves. Ren Amamiya now enjoys a normal high-school life, hard-won though it may be. For once, normalcy started to feel normal. However, the whims of fate would set the Wild Card User on another path. And he would be far from the only one fate would call on. Pairing: Pseudo RenxHarem YuxHarem

30. A Thread of Hope

A/N Not much to say up front except that the next chapter will be posted in two weeks. Until then, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona, or any of its characters, and I make no money off of this

Chapter 30

The young recently adopted son of the Sasaki family stood in place, staring at a display of samurai armors that lined the hallway leading to the front of the manor. He's passed them several times a day for the two short weeks since he'd been there, and yet every time they amazed him.

There had been similar displays in his old home, but he'd be scolded almost every time he stopped to look for reasons he could never really understand.

"These are way better armors anyway," the boy stated dismissively.

He continued down the hallway, but stopped himself upon hearing voices in front of the nearby staircase. There was smoke being blown into the area, and so of course he assumed that some of the guards were on a break. The brown-haired boy was set to move past them up the stairs and let them go about their business, too.

At least until he heard them speak.

"…but really, you don't have any issues with it?"

"Why would I? The boss can adopt any kid he wants."

"But a piece of trash from that family? Bastard or not, he's—"

"Shut your mouth, will ya?" the other scolded. "It's not your place to question the boss."

"It ain't just me, ya know."

The boy hung his head and sighed. It seemed words stung just as much here as they did in his old home after all.

"Maybe some things never change…" he muttered.

All he wanted at that point was to disappear into his room. He paid the guards no mind and wanted to do nothing more than move right past them, but one of them noticed his depressed appearance and immediately realized the obvious.

"H-Hey, kid, wait a sec."

The brown-haired boy did exactly that and turned to the man to see what he wanted. He quickly turned to his friend and judged him

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"Is your head that far up your ass?" the other whispered annoyedly. "The kid clearly heard you."

In response, the Yakuza chuckled and took in a big puff from his cigarette. He breathed it out in the general direction of the recently adopted child in front of him.

"So what?" he all but spat. His eyes shifted towards the child. "I'll say it to his face if he wants to hear it loud and clear."

"Say what, exactly?"

The brown-haired boy didn't have the slightest idea who'd said those words, though the guards clearly did if their stiffened posture was anything to go by. They immediately turned towards the direction of the speaker, bowing their heads at what appeared to be a child that was approaching from down the opposite hall.

"Y-Young master," one stammered, bowing his head out of respect. "Um, we were… we were just—"

"They were giving me directions," said the brown-haired boy, his voice calm and devoid of any emotion whatsoever. "I'm still not used to the house, so I get lost sometimes."

"That's right. D-Directions." The Yakuza looked at his watch. "And our break's over now. Please excuse us, young master."

The two guards ran off in a hurry, leaving the two children alone near the staircase. There was a silence as they sized one another up, and oddly it was the quieter of the two that was the first to speak.

"They called you young master, so you must be Eiji, right?"

"Yep, that's me," he replied. "I just got back from Kyoto. Dad told me he wanted to introduce you to me himself, but when I heard I had a brother now, I just couldn't wait. I ran to find you as soon as I could."

There was a bright innocence to the smile that appeared on his face that caught the older boy by surprise. He turned away out awkward discomfort and started to head upstairs before he even gave a response.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"…but I still don't know your name."

He stopped dead in his tracks, turning around briefly. "Didn't your dad tell you my name?"

"No, dad never said."

Again, there was a soft innocence to the way he was being looked at which made the recent addition to the Sasaki household very uncomfortable. He wanted nothing more than to just tell him his name and go off on his own.

Trouble was, he didn't even know what name to give.

"Well, um… I don't really like to be called by my name, so just call me 'bro' or something," he finally replied.

He tried to walk off once more, but before he could even turn around, the black-haired boy raced up and wrapped his hands around his body. He stiffened as if he was being attacked, and looked down confusedly as if to understand what was happening.

It took him a few seconds more than it should've to realize he was being hugged.

"Got it," the boy said, looking up once again with a warm smile. "Bro!"

It was difficult to say what the brown-haired boy felt in that moment. But judging by the faintest of smiles that crossed his lips, it may very well have been the closest thing to 'happy' that he'd felt in quite some time.

---

Tetsuo Jirkikshi found himself within a long hallway that led to the center of the Sasaki compound in the Metaverse. He was standing perfectly still, staring at one of the many armor sets that lined the corridor. If he didn't know any better, he'd have bet good money it was taken straight out of their old family manor. Of course, it wasn't—it was just a product of his brother's cognition. Though all the same it was nice to stare at.

It reminded him of better times.

The detective started to walk away solemnly, his mind filled with memories that felt as if they were from several lifetimes ago. When he finally crossed the threshold of the door at the end of the hall, he thought that perhaps they actually were.

Jirikishi entered a large sprawling space with a ceiling half a mile up off the ground. It was elaborate and larger than life, but at the same time cold and unfeeling. His eyes shifted to the room's far end, and he could only scowl at what he saw.

Two separate lines of cages containing the freshly-captured Persona users were found on each side of the room. They led up to two separate upright slabs which held the Nijima sisters, each having their arms and legs sprawled out in an x-shape while metal cuffs bound them to the stone surface.

Everything was so horrifically perfect that from the spacing to the lighting that he could only describe the design as a twisted ceremony.

An overpowering sense of disgust erased every bit of the nostalgia he felt on his way into the room. He was just thankful the others were still unconscious so he could avoid any further feelings of guilt.

A hand placed itself on his shoulder, and the brown-haired man turned to see it was his brother, who offered him a small and understanding smile.

"I told you that you didn't need to come in here if you didn't want to," Sasaki stated.

"I know," replied Jirikishi, his tone even.

The kingpin took a deep breath upon realizing that his brother's mood wasn't going to improve anytime soon. That didn't come as much of a surprise to him, though.

"It's almost over, Tetsuo," Sasaki uttered, offering some form of reassurance. "I promise it's almost over. Once I do what I have to do, we can finally take Shinjuku, then Tokyo, and then all of Japan. It'll be just like we'd always dreamed of—trust me."

The only thing Jirikishi could manage in response was a brief but somber nod in the wake of the warped hope that his brother had attempted to give him.

Sasaki sighed wistfully, "Why don't you go guard the entrance? All you need to do is let Ren Amamiya pass and make sure we don't have any unexpected visitors. I'll handle the rest."

He looked towards the captured Persona users, anticipation lighting in his eyes as he looked towards what would come next.

"He should be getting her soon, and once he does, everything can finally come to an end."

An eerie gold aura coated his pupils in the aftermath of his words, and a smile crossed his lips that could only be called demonic. The sight of it filled Jirikishi with a defeat that was so absolute that words couldn't quite describe it.

All he could bring himself to do was turn his back and walk away.

"…I'll be off, then."

Jirikishi took one final look over his shoulder at perhaps the one thing in the room he wanted to see the least—the large mechanical container on the far-end of the chamber.

As he made his exit, all he could think about was the regret that filled his heart, and thoughts of what could have been.

In the silence that followed, Sasaki found himself sighing. He turned around and gazed longingly at the doorway, knowing on some level how his brother felt. Though at the same time, he couldn't do anything about it.

"U-Ugh…!"

A soft groan shattered the quiet and immediately caught the kingpin's attention. He turned curiously to see the red-costumed Phantom Thief stirring from within her cage.

Ann held a hand to her head, her vision still blurry even as her eyes fully opened. She tried her best to shake it off, though it still took some time for her to finally see clearly.

"What the…?" she muttered, looking around her with absolute confusion. "Where am I?"

"Hmm, I'm surprised that you were the first one to wake up," said Sasaki, casually walking up to her cage.

Though the blonde didn't have any idea who he was, she glared daggers at him all the same. She knew that if he was looking at her from outside a cage that, at the very least, he wasn't a friend.

"And just who the hell are you?" Panther asked.

"Eiji Sasaki."

The mere mention of the name lit a fire deep within the pits of Panther's serene blue orbs. She shot towards the edge of the cage if only so that she could make sure he could see her rage as clear as the light of day.

He chuckled in response, "You know, that fire in your eyes reminds me of someone I know."

"If you're a fan of fire, then you're gonna love me," Panther shot back. She stepped back in a hurry and placed her hand on her mask. "Persona!"

Much to Ann's surprise, nothing happened. Carmen hadn't appeared, and she couldn't feel the same flow of energy she traditionally felt when she tried to summon her Persona.

"I'll spare you the embarrassment of trying that again," Sasaki remarked, amusement clear in his voice. "You can't summon your Persona while you're in that cage. None of you can."

The aspiring model held her hand up to her mask once again, though she didn't bother trying to summon her Persona. She could tell that Sasaki was telling the truth given that she couldn't feel the same 'spark' that she usually did.

"Good, sit quietly just like that. There's no need to throw your life away so quickly by trying to fight me now, so just be patient," Sasaki stated, a dark smirk spreading from ear to ear. "But if you've got your heart set on dying quickly, then I promise you can have your turn right after I'm finished with Ren Amamiya."

Sasaki hadn't meant anything by his last comment, but clearly it struck a nerve in the blonde. She shot towards the edge of the cage with such anger in expression that it genuinely took him by surprise.

"What are you planning on doing to Ren?!" Panther shouted.

"…nothing yet," Sasaki replied. "Though that'll change as soon as he gets here."

His choice of words confused Panther, but she soon realized that he wasn't among those that were in the cages, nor was he tied down out on the open like Sae and Makoto.

The kingpin started to walk away confidently, though he was stopped dead in his tracks when the blonde offered a few parting words.

"He'll beat you," Panther stated firmly, shaking the bars of her prison as if to grab his attention. "No matter what you've got up your sleeve, it won't be enough. The second he gets here, he'll take you down."

Sasaki peered over his shoulder and showed a simple but confident smirk before turning his back once more and walking away.

Metaverse – Central Shinjuku

All was quiet as a squad of Shadows consisting mainly of Yakuza drones patrolled the area per their master's instructions. Alongside them were a small number of attack dogs, pitch-black and red in color with a trademark white mask covering the entirety of their heads.

"Doesn't look like the dogs are picking anything up yet," one remarked.

Another scoffed, "Why the hell would we expect them to? There's nothing out here but dust and rogue Shadows. That we're even this far out on patrol is a joke."

"Then you think the Black Biker is a joke?"

"W-Well, I didn't say—"

"Sure sounded like you did," the apparent leader stated, glaring at his subordinate. "Shape up and keep your eyes peeled. The boss isn't hiding our HQ anymore, and he doesn't want the Black Biker to ruin his plans. But be careful not to confuse him with the Phantom Thieves' leader. Him we're supposed to leave alone."

"Why?"

"Because the boss said so."

"Whatever," muttered one of the Shadows. "I don't know why the boss does just have us kill him on sight. A fly like that ain't worth his—"

Two figured appeared at the center of the patrol in the blink of an eye. One of the Shadows tried to sound the alarm on reflex, but his voice wouldn't leave his throat. All it could do was watch on in confusion as both he and the others started to vanish in a cloud of black dust.

Morgana could barely believe his eyes as he approached. He'd never once before seen the two Wild Cards move with such efficiency and ruthlessness. From evading the senses of the Dogs in the patrol to the speed of their attacks—everything was perfect.

Frighteningly perfect.

Yu took out his phone, looking at it for but a moment before speaking. "Looks like their base isn't that far off. The MetaNav is picking up its signal loud and clear."

"Not surprising. He wants us to find him this time around," Joker replied, sheathing his knife once more.

"He wants you to find him," corrected Yu. "I'd imagine he's not expecting to see me."

"Right, good point," Joker uttered. He turned to their furred companion. "Mona, how are your senses holding up? Do you think you can guide us around the patrolling Shadows?"

"Yeah, of course," he replied. "Why though? Wouldn't it be better to take the fastest route and just deal with any Shadows that're in our way?"

Joker gestured towards his fellow Fool, "Dead man, remember? The patrols won't bat an eyelash at me, but what do you think happens if they see him and Sasaki finds out?"

Morgana's ears hung as he considered the answer. They already knew Sasaki was a maniac, and now he was a maniac that had all of their friends at his mercy. As things were, if he were to find out that the one man he wanted dead was still among the living…

"I don't even wanna know what he'd do then," Mona whispered under his breath. The feline nodded firmly, "I'll guide us in so we can avoid the patrols. If we come across any we can't avoid fighting, we'll have to take them out quickly before they can contact Sasaki."

"Lead the way."

Sasaki Compound – Central Area

Sae's eyes started to open bit by bit, though when they were fully opened, she almost wished she'd kept them closed. In a literal line on her left and right were her unconscious teammates bound in cages.

Panic hit the silver-haired young woman when she realized her sister was nowhere to be seen within the square prisons, but it was short-lived as she soon realized that Makoto was just off to her side. She'd have felt relief too it wasn't for the fact that both of them had their limbs locked down on stone slabs like some kind of sacrifice in waiting.

Though at least they were both alive.

"N-Nnh…"

Her sister's quiet murmurs caught Sae's attention. She was about to call out to her—the words were nearly out of her mouth—and yet they died in her throat the minute she heard approaching footsteps.

It was a black-haired man in an expensive suit. All else about him didn't matter save for the sickening aura that seemed to dance around his body as he approached her.

"Looks like I was right," he said. "You were one of the first to wake up after all."

The man never said his name. He didn't speak any more than sixteen words, and yet Sae knew who he was—who he had to be. Her eyes narrowed and she scowled heavily, her feelings towards him as clear as the purest of water.

"Eiji Sasaki," Sae growled.

There was absolute hatred and malice in her voice that inspired a twisted smirk on the part of the man whose name she spoke. He didn't need for her to say his name, though. Her expression alone was enough to tell him that she knew who he was.

"It seems my reputation precedes me," Sasaki remarked playfully. A cold, sadistic look shined in his eyes. "Did you enjoy the video I sent you?"

Sae howled and forced her body forward with everything she had. So great was her strength that her restraints started to shake, all the while cracks started to form all across the stone surface to which she was bound.

For the briefest of moments, it seemed like she might break free. But within seconds, the restraints strengthened and the spider-veins on the stone slab vanished. It was clear that she wouldn't be able to force her way out, but that didn't deter her in the slightest. She struggled all the same.

"No matter how strong you are, you won't be able to break free," Sasaki stated plainly.

"I wouldn't bet against me," Sae shot back.

As she continued to struggle against her ever-strengthening shackles, Sasaki stepped forward and observed her up close. He frowned the more thoroughly he looked.

"You really do remind me of him… and in more ways than one," Sasaki said offhandedly.

"Ghhh…!" Sae grunted, continuing to struggle in vain.

The black-haired man sighed to himself before he began to walk away. Just one look at her had dug up unpleasant memories alongside feelings of resentment that he'd carried with him the past few years.

"You know, years ago, when I ordered your father's death, I didn't take any pleasure in it. He was just someone that wouldn't give up no matter what. Annoying, yes, but not altogether a threat in his own right," began Sasaki, his voice devoid of emotion. "Which is why it's so ironic, don't you think? Akashi Nijima was just some replaceable, insignificant cog in the grand scheme of things. No one would've ever thought that his death would lead to the purge, and to this day I still don't even understand it myself."

"Keep my father's name out of your mouth," Sae uttered venomously. "Even dead, he's a hundred times the man that you could ever hope to be!"

Her words struck a particular chord in the kingpin. Sasaki marched towards her in a fit of rage and backhanded her with such force that the sound of the impact reverberated around the room.

Despite the strength that he'd used, Sae didn't even so much as flinch. She spat blood on the floor that had pooled inside her mouth as she stared him down, unwilling to even give him the satisfaction of hearing so much as a pained grunt.

"You hit like a girl," Sae stated.

A stone plate rose up from the slab she was tethered to and covered the lower portion of her face just beneath her nose. Her voice soon became little more than muffled grunts.

Sasaki shook with rage as he gestured a finger towards the young woman. "That was for both of our sakes. If I have to keep hearing you speak, there's no way I'll be able to keep my temper under control."

His eyes flashed a sickly gold as he started to take deep, calming breaths. It didn't seem to do him much good, though.

"I so desperately want to…!" Sasaki hissed. He grunted, scolding himself for listening to the impulses that screamed out from the center of his very being. "No, just as Yu Narukami needed to die first, you need to die last."

The Shinjuku kingpin had truly only meant to soothe his growing anger by any means necessary, so it went without saying that he didn't expect his words to get any reaction at all.

And yet to his immense pleasure, they had.

His rage vanished and his clenched teeth gave way to a sinister grin the moment his eyes landed on Sae's expression. Her disbelief and sorrow, however slight, were like a drug that flowed straight into his veins, changing his mood in an instant.

"Oh, that's right, you were unconscious when it happened, weren't you?" Sasaki mused. "If it's any consolation, he died quickly. Shot three times—two to the heart, one to the head."

It was clear that the silver-haired beauty didn't believe him, but Sasaki almost preferred it that way. To him, it'd just make it all the sweeter when she realized the truth.

"Think about it: Do you see him here in the cages?" Sasaki asked rhetorically. "Ren Amamiya is absent too, of course, though him I let live if only to dangle the illusion of hope in front of you and your sister. But Narukami…? Why would I let loose the one person that actually stood a chance at stopping me?"

Though cracks began to show, it was clear that Sae was still stubbornly refusing to entertain that there was any truth to his words. Sasaki walked forward, chuckling to himself at her hopeless denial.

"If I'd known he meant anything at all to you, I would've made sure you got the chance to see him die yourself," Sasaki stated. He slowly brought his hands to the side of her head. "But maybe I'll be able to show you after all."

His fingers placed themselves on Sae's temples, and within seconds, a strong discomfort began to echo from her every limb. She squirmed unpleasantly as images tried to force themselves into her mind, though she resisted them with everything she had.

"You're only going to make it worse, you know," Sasaki uttered uncaringly, his hands pressing down even harder.

"G-Ghh…!" Sae grunted painfully.

"See?"

As Sasaki felt he was on the cusp of showing her what he'd seen, he found his focus shattered by an abrupt shout that came from just off to the side.

"Get your hands off my sister!"

The black-haired man turned to see the younger of the two Nijimas staring him down. He dropped his hands and gave her his attention, sizing her up as he approached.

"Hmm," Sasaki hummed in contemplation. "Seems the Nijima fire really does run in the family."

The truth of his words were only reinforced by the intimidating glare that the brunette then gave him.

"I'm only going to say this once," Queen growled. "Lay another finger on her and I will rip your head off."

"Charming," chuckled Sasaki, finding no reason to take her threat even the slightest bit seriously. "But you don't need to worry, I'm not going to kill her. Not yet, at least."

Queen scoffed, "Not until you dangle hope in front of us, I take it?"

"Ah, so you were listening. Yes, that's exactly right," Sasaki replied with twisted satisfaction. "And it seems that the show is finally about to start, so just sit back and relax, won't you?"

Even as he walked away there was a taunting feel to his every move. His confidence was all but oozing out of his very being to the point it was obvious he viewed Joker's arrival as nothing more than passing entertainment that he could play with and dispose of at his own convenience.

Queen had only a few select words, saying, "He'll beat you. No matter what, he'll beat you."

Sasaki paused and turned around curiously as if stricken by déjà vu. "Funny, the blonde one said the same thing. She also sounded just as confident."

"You'll find out why soon enough," Queen shot back.

"I doubt that," he replied amusedly. "And I very much look forward to proving you wrong."

---

A familiar scene was playing out in the garden of the Sasaki manor. The family head was playing a relaxing game of chess with his eldest son just like they had countless times before.

Asahi Sasaki ran a hand through his hair, which by then hadn't even a shred of black left in it; now his mane was a gray as a wolf in a snow-kissed mountaintop.

"You're move," he said plainly. A series of coughs escaped his throat, causing him to pound his chest and grab his nearby glass of water. "Excuse me."

Tetsuo nodded in understanding. "Not a problem."

There was a peaceful silence as the brown-haired young man contemplated his move, though his father was by no means going to let it sit.

"So," Asahi spoke conversationally, "I take it you're aware of the ongoing discussions regarding my stepping down as the head of our group?"

"I am." His brow quirked as he took his eye off the chess board. "You're not going to ask me to be the next head, are you?"

"And if I did?"

"I'd tell you you're out of your god damn mind," he replied, to his credit giving an honest answer. "Eiji is better suited for it than me. And besides, I'm… Well, you know."

"Pfft, you can stop floundering," chuckled the gray-haired Yakuza, sporting a grin all the while. "I wouldn't dream of making you the next head. It's going to be Eiji, of course."

A sigh of relief sounded off on the part of his son, which he couldn't help but find amusing.

"Still," Asahi continued, striking his beard. "That begs the question: Just what will you do since Eiji will be taking over?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I'd like to hear your answer all the same."

The now elderly man started to cough once more, earning a concerned glance from his playing partner. He waved him off as he cleared his throat, though his worry lasted until the fit ended shortly thereafter.

"I'll be staying by Eiji's side, of course," Tetsuo stated.

"And you're fine with that? Even if it means getting into the 'family business'?" Asahi pressed.

Tetsuo seemed to think on it for a second, but eventually nodded, "Yes, even then."

"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Asahi muttered, sighing into the palm of his hand. He looked at his son dead in his eyes. "I know you love and value family over all else. However, that love isn't meant to be a shackle that chains you down for their benefit. You can always have your brother's back even if you're not out and about committing crimes on his behalf."

Whether Tetsuo had actually been swayed was difficult to tell, but at the very least his father's words had gotten through his thick head to the point that he'd actually heard them.

"I'll ask again: What is it you want to do with your life?" Asahi pressed.

"…the truth is, I don't really know. But right now, the thing I want most is this," Tetsuo stated as he reached down towards one of his pieces. He moved it forward, eying his old man cockily as he stated, "Checkmate."

Asahi had thought of the briefest of moments that he was about to get an honest answer. He sat back and rolled his eyes, as his son pulled out a lighter and a cigarette to celebrate his victory.

"Good game, you almost had me there," Tetsuo said, a mocking undertone to his calm voice as he blew a puff of smoke.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," grumbled Asahi as he blew the ashy cloud away. "That's a nasty habit, by the way. You ought to quit now while you're ahead, unless of course you'd prefer to end up like me coughing up a lung every other day."

"Meh, who wants to be ninety anyway?" Tetsuo joked.

"Well, you've got me there," Asahi replied.

Both the father and the son shared a hearty laugh in what was truly a touching moment. But that changed in a heartbeat as the Sasaki patriarch's laughter was phased out in favor of a powerful string of coughs.

Tetsuo didn't think anything of it, but as the fit continued, he started to grow worried once more.

"Dad? You okay?" he asked.

"*cough* Y-Yep, just *cough**cough*!"

Asahi collapsed onto the ground off his chair, coughing up a storm all the while. His son rushed to his side, at a loss of what he alone could do. Realizing he was in over his head, he turned away and shouted for whatever attendants were on standby.

"Whoever's on duty, get the hell over here! Now!" Tetsuo shouted.

---

Tetsuo Jirikishi blew a strong puff of smoke into the disturbed atmosphere of the Metaverse as he stood in wait at the front of the Sasaki compound. He abruptly threw his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out with his shoe as he felt company nearby.

Just as he'd expected, the two Wild Cards were fast-approaching, and with them was the black cat-like creature that oddly had slipped the detective's mind that entire time. It didn't matter either way, though.

Nothing would change what was about to happen.

When the trio was finally close enough to the entrance that he could see the white of their eyes, everything froze. A strong, stinging silence gripped the air for a time as none of them made so much as a sound.

They'd just chosen to stare deeply at one another.

"Amamiya, you're free to head in, but that's it," Jirikishi abruptly spoke. "Sorry to say that the cat and the dead man will need to stay our here."

Yu stepped forward with his steely gaze locked directly on the brown-haired man. "I can promise you half of what you want."

"Sorry, no dice," Jirikishi replied. "It'd be a real pain if that cat somehow made it into the control room or something while Amamiya was in the main hall, ya know. Then he might be able to release all your friends, and yada-yada-yada, blah-blah-blah. So, of course I can't let him past me."

A God's Hand slammed into the middle-aged detective and launched him into the sides of the very compound he was guarding. Chunks of rubble toppled overtop of him in the aftermath, leaving Yu walking towards him with Zaou Gongen following overhead.

"You two head on in," Yu stated. "I'll catch up after I'm done here."

Neither Joker nor Morgana wasted any time in arguing or even giving a verbal response. They raced towards the entrance under the silver-haired Fool's watchful eye, and in no time at all, they'd moved into the compound.

A groaning Jirikishi picked himself up out of the rubble, dusting himself off.

"That was excessive," he remarked.

Somewhat to his surprise, Yu didn't respond. He just stood there, staring at him with the same piercing gray eyes. It was a look that Jirikishi recognized—the look of a man staring directly into his soul.

It was odd. With that look came not a shred of killer intent. There wasn't any hatred, anger, or hostility whatsoever. All he could feel was a sense of sympathy, and a desire to understand.

He couldn't help but recall the last time he'd seen that look. The last time he'd seen those eyes.

---

"…there, all signed and—"

Asahi Sasaki could only get those short few words out before he descended into another fit of coughing. Still, he'd done what he needed to do; the orders were now signed to make his first-born son the next family head. He shooed away the attendant as he tried to get his cough under control, and they in turn bowed respectfully before leaving with the official documents.

The entire room could only watch helplessly as their respected leader cleared his throat. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and as one of the nurses went in to clear it off, he held out his hand and ordered her to stop dead in her tracks. He then took the cloth and cleaned it himself.

"I'd like to be left alone with my son," Asahi abruptly announced.

Each of the Yakuza hung their heads out of respect and took their leave. On some level, they knew what was about to happen. The solemnity in their boss's voice was more than enough to betray his thoughts.

The room soon emptied and the atmosphere became coated in silence as Tetsuo came to his father's side. He sat down, overlooking him as he lay flat on a large comfortable bed, wheezing every time he took a breath.

"Tetsuo, I…" Asahi began.

He stopped his speech once again, though this time it was out of simple fatigue. It was clear that just speaking alone was putting a heavy strain on him.

That might have been the moment that everything settled in. The moment where Tetsuo felt what was about to happen. His father's charming, confident, charismatic aura had faded, and his good-natured smile was nowhere to be seen.

He was a shadow of himself. So much so that it looked like mustering just a simple laugh might well lead to the last breaths that he ever took.

"I had something important that… that I wanted to…"

Tetsuo felt a lump in his throat, though he spoke all the same, "Dad, you don't need to say anything."

"Shut your trap," scolded Asahi. He mustered a cheeky smirk. "It's rude to interrupt a man's last words."

The sight of the confidence that had returned to his father's demeanor genuinely shocked Tetsuo. He knew it was meaningless in the end, but it was comforting, at least on some level, that even on death's door, Asahi Sasaki was still Asahi Sasaki.

That of course meant that there was nothing anyone could say or do that would stop him for saying what he wanted to say. Knowing this, Tetsuo nodded in understanding, going silent and letting his father continue uninterrupted.

"There's just one thing I want to say, but before I do…" Asahi muttered.

He reached into his hakama's inner-pocket and took something out of it which he then lifted towards Tetsuo. The brown-haired young man looked at it confusedly, seeing it as nothing more than an ordinary coin.

"You've always been a good kid," Asahi stated with a warm smile. "Follow your heart, and you'll do just fine. When in doubt, use this to stay true to your own path."

It was then that Tetsuo turned the coin on its back, seeing that it was double-sided. His jaw dropped when he finally put two and two together.

"This is the coin you've been flipping all these years?" Tetsuo asked, at a near loss for words. "But… why?"

"For one, I found it funny," Asahi replied, laughing heartily as he stifled another cough. "But for another… Well, just think of it as my way of getting a wishy-washy brat like you to make the choices you actually wanted to make. I was just surprised that you never caught on to what I was doing, but I guess you're more of a dumbass than I thought."

Tetsuo was stunned. The coin in his hand must have been flipped hundreds upon thousands of times before his very eyes, with each flip symbolizing the degree to which his father truly cared about how he felt. Thoughts of every toss of the coin flooded his mind as if the countless memories were being condensed down into mere seconds, and the rush of emotion they brought with them was overwhelming.

He gripped the coin tightly as tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"Hindsight's twenty-twenty," Tetsuo muttered, his voice hoarse.

"You'd better not get tears on my deathbed," Asahi joked.

The brown-haired young man let loose a bittersweet chuckle before he wiped the waterworks away and got himself under control.

His father then brought his hand to his face, cupping his cheek. There was a soft look about him as he looked up at his son, conveying much more with that simple gesture than words ever could.

"Stay true to yourself, Tetsuo," Asahi breathed.

Tetsuo felt his father's hand become weak and start to slip away from his cheek. Knowing what that likely meant, he grabbed onto the hand with both of his own as if desperately begging it to stay for just a few seconds longer.

Asahi's eyes started to close, and with the last ounce of strength he may very well have possessed, he chose to smile at his adoptive son before everything went dark.

"…dad?" Tetsuo uttered quietly.

On some level, he knew there wouldn't be a response. But there were just some things that as a person you were never quite ready for.

Tears started to stream down Tetsuo's cheeks once again, despite his best efforts to keep them at bay. After a few brief moments of solemnity, he wiped them away and stood tall.

The last thing he did before silently leaving the room was to take one last look into his father's gray orbs. Even in death, they seemed to comfort him, though he knew he couldn't keep looking into them forever, and so he closed them gently on his behalf.

---

Yu Narukami had the same eyes. It took some time for Jirikishi to realize that, but at least now he knew why he'd had a soft spot for him since the second they first met. Or at least it was part of the reason, anyway.

As their gazes stayed locked amidst the chilling silence, Jirikishi found himself thinking of what could have been. There was so much that could've been done differently to avoid things turning out the way that they did. So much that he could have done differently.

But none of that mattered now.

Jirikishi sighed, "I guess there's just no way around it, huh…?"

Red embers started to form around the brown-haired man, soon erupting into a storm of flaming crimson energy. They lingered only for a brief moment, building up to the utterance of the creature that would be called forth.

"Enkidu," Jirikishi uttered.

From the fires appeared a tall, stout warrior with dark skin coated in blue tribal markings. His hair was long, brown, and beast-like, extending wildly down to the center of his back and draping over his chest and shoulders. He wore no armor save for the two clawed silver gauntlets on his hands, while the only other piece of clothing he sported was the bottom half of a blue kimono-like garment on his waist.

A katana soon appeared in the detective's hands, which he brandished as if he were stretching a muscle.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" Jirikishi asked.

---

Morgana and Joker ran through the classical Japanese hallways of the compound unimpeded. They hadn't come across so much as a soul, which while convenient, was still all the more eerie.

"Looks like Sasaki really does want you to find him ASAP," Mona reasoned.

"That makes two of us," Joker replied.

Mona nodded in agreement, "Well, the good news is we should be pretty close to this place's central area. If we—"

The black-furred feline stopped dead in his tracks and dropped down to one knee. He grabbed at his chest, feeling a sudden pressure shoot into his entire being that was unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

His breathing became strained and barely audible, something that quickly caught his friend's attention.

"Mona!" Joker exclaimed, running to the Shadow's side. "What's wrong? Is something—"

"F-Fine… I'm fine," he stammered, managing to stand up. "Something hit my senses just now. The power alone is incredible, but the nature of it is just so… twisted."

Joker's eyes narrowed, "Is it Sasaki?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know," Mona answered honestly. "But if it is him, then I can only imagine just how strong he's become. I-I have faith in you, but just a heads up, you should exercise extreme caution."

"I was planning on it," Joker replied with a reassuring smile. "Are you good to keep moving?"

"Yeah."

The duo made their way around the corner and started down an incredibly long hallway filled with old, ornate samurai armor displays.

With each step they took, they could feel it. They were getting closer and closer, and when they'd reached the end of the hallway, both of them knew what was going to be on the other side of the sealed door.

Joker stepped towards it with a cold look in his eyes, uttering only, "Let's go."

"Wait, hold on a sec," Mona called out, earning a surprised look from his closest friend. "Granted, I'm not so sure if we can trust this, but… do you remember what Jirikishi said before we walked into this place? About the control room? So, with your permission, I'd like to split off and track it down on my own while you deal with Sasaki. I know it's a risk, but it's one I think we might just need to take."

"…first off, you don't need my permission," Joker replied. He turned around to give the feline his full attention. "And second off, I trust your judgment. If you really think that's what you're better off doing, then I don't think there's anything to discuss."

In his heart of hearts, Morgana was expecting an answer like that. He smiled and began to walk off, turning his head over his shoulder to utter a few words in parting.

"Good luck, Joker," he said.

The Trickster smirked good-naturedly, "You too, Mona."

As his companion quickly left his sight, Ren turned back towards the door and stepped towards it. It opened in the blink of an eye, and he wasted no time in crossing over its threshold.

What the Wild Card came to see surprised him, and in the most unpleasant way imaginable. He could see his friends standing in cages lined up at the far end of the room leading up to two large slabs exuding from the ground on which both Sae and Makoto were currently bound.

That wasn't all they led to, though. Behind the two sisters was a massive container that he remembered all too well.

'Just like at the White Mask's Palace…' he thought.

"Hey, is that…?"

"Joker!"

"Really?! J-Joker, you're really here, right?!"

The relieved cries of his friends echoed through the room as they took notice of his presence. They, however weren't the only ones who did.

"Nice of you to finally join us."

The arrogant voice that called out from his side was one that he'd never forget even if he tried. His blood boiled, and on reflex he took out his knife and ripped into the space where he was sure that Sasaki would be.

To his surprise, the black-haired man dodged his strike, smirking at him as the metal of his blade slashed across thin air. He then vanished, seemingly into thin air, only to reappear a fair distance away at the forefront of the assorted cages that contained his friends.

"Not a bad strike," he remarked, almost complementary. "I can tell you—"

Before the kingpin even finished his sentence, Joker was already at his side attempting to deliver another blow from his knife. His initial strike was dodged, but the second time around he was more than ready for his instinctive pattern of retreat. He had his pistol at the ready, and sent a flurry of shots directly into the center of his chest.

The shots hit their mark, though they simply crashed up against the surface of his suit and crumbled to pieces. Sasaki dusted off his chest, though he looked nowhere near as cocky as he had before.

"Your dodging needs work," Joker said tauntingly, though his expression remained stone-cold.

"Heh, clearly," chuckled Sasaki dryly. "It's mostly a reflex from all my years of training. The truth is I don't even really need to dodge since I doubt you can hurt me."

Joker scowled. "Care to bet money on that?"

"Oh please, my brother may have saved your life by extension of that coin flip, but make no mistake: I let you live because your odds of beating me are pathetic at best," Sasaki muttered amusedly, looking at the Wild Card with eyes that matched his tone. He gestured to the cages, "The only reason you're even here alive is because they don't know that, or at least not yet."

"You're really that sure of yourself, huh?" Joker asked.

"Of course I am," Sasaki said with a chuckle. He turned his back to the Wild Card in a brazen display of disrespect for his abilities. "After all, wouldn't you be if you were a god?"

A blast of curse energy blasted directly into Sasaki courtesy of Arsène who had appeared at his master's side. Annoyingly, it seemed that the crime lord hadn't been all talk before, as he hadn't moved, an inch, and yet the attack still did nothing.

Sasaki peered over his shoulder, sporting a taunting grin. "I told you, didn't I?"

"My mistake in holding back," Joker shot back. "Don't worry, it won't happen again."

"…you know, I had thought that you could at least provide some entertainment before I decided to kill you, but now I have my doubts," Sasaki thought aloud. He stared at the black-clad Persona users curiously, his body language making it clear he hadn't a care in the world as he did so. "Let's see if you're even worth my attention in the first place, shall we?"

The entire room started to shake as if an earthquake was striking from the very core of the Metaverse, all the while the cages started to move across the room towards its farthest corners. Joker fought to keep his footing, though as he did so he stole as many glances as he could at the suited gangster that was presumably at the center of the room's transformation.

'What the hell?' Joker wondered. 'How the hell is he reshaping the room? There's no way he's doing it with just his mind, right?'

As things came to a crashing halt, Sasaki ignored the Trickster altogether and phased out of existence once again. He reappeared in front of the large mechanical cylinder and began to walk up to it as casually as he could.

The container began to glow with a twisted dark light, after which the floor rose up and formed a large formation of rocks that shot up off the ground in all directions. Within seconds after the shape was fully in place, the rocks shattered, revealing a throne of solid gold atop a staircase decorated with a literal red carpet.

Sasaki ascended the stairs as if he savored every step he took, ultimately coming to a stop at the apex and sitting down in the throne as if it were fortunate for him to choose to sit on it in the first place.

"Now then…" he began, his eyes flashing a sickly gold as he spoke.

A series of doors began to open all over the room, totaling four in number. A large number of Bulks, Eagles, Halberies, and even Minotaurs started to pour out of them. Joker immediately took up a defensive stance expecting them to stampede towards him like a herd of bulls, but it quickly became apparent that he wasn't their target.

Though they ignored Sae and Makoto entirely, the Shadows started to march towards the cages, causing Joker to drop his stance in horrified shock as he realized their intent.

They were heading for the cages that contained his friends.

"Try your best to save them. If you can, that is," Sasaki remarked mockingly from atop his throne. "They're completely powerless to defend themselves, by the way. My advice is to move quickly, unless you'd prefer to watch them die."

Joker didn't even bother to register the taunt in the first place; his mind was far too focused on developing a plan to put into action to protect his friends. He raced towards the nearest cluster of Shadows that were still coming out of the door, knowing that his best opening move would be to clear out one area from the onset.

He leapt into the air, ripping his hand across his face in a blur of blue flames before descending towards the demonic hell spawn below.

"Yoshitsune!" Joker exclaimed.

It was only for a literal instant that the mentioned Persona made an appearance. Thin white rifts tore through the very atmosphere itself, cutting across the hoard of Shadows with impunity.

Yoshitsune disappeared in a flash as a sea of black mist poured out from each of the creatures, leaving none of them alive in the aftermath of what was a devastating show of force.

Oracle cheered, "Alright Jok—!"

A Halberie's twisted razor-sharp teeth launched at her and clamped down on the bars, leaving her uninjured but still jumping backwards with a yelp. Just as the bars started to give in, a bullet launched straight through its side and killed the creature in one shot.

Relief flooded the navigator as she saw Joker leaping and dodging in the middle of the swarm of demons. He tore through one after another with brutal efficiency, though the beasts simply wouldn't stop coming.

That, however, wasn't the biggest problem ahead of him.

'Dammit,' Joker thought in agitation, gritting his teeth as he shot several bullets through a nearby set of Eagles. 'They're ignoring me altogether. Come on, you pieces of—!"

"Waa!" Yosuke exclaimed, falling back flat on his ass in the wake of several bulks starting to rip through the iron bars of his prison.

Joker pivoted, exclaiming, "Black Rider!"

A black-clad reaper on horseback appeared at his side, raising an obsidian scale into the sky and immediately calling forth a massive ball of light that hung overhead for only a moment before exploding. The Flash Bomb that had fired off didn't have the power to outright cut down the Shadows present, but it wasn't meant to.

All Joker needed to do was slow them down, and what his attack had done was disorient them enough to do just that. Still, he had only seconds to choose his next Persona correctly, knowing that he couldn't choose one with too much force.

"Skadi!" Joker exclaimed.

A wave of ice brushed over everything within sight, coating the sides of the cages in the immediate area, but not covering them outright. The Shadows shattered like tiny shards of glass seconds later, and what few managed to survive were quickly cut down by way of knife or dispatched with singular bullets.

"Graaaaa!"

More of the beasts let loose bloodthirsty roars from across the room. Joker could see them fast approaching the blocks that held Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke, and worse still was the fact that more had started to come out from the doors near the areas he'd already cleared.

The Wild Card scowled as he realized that he was running out of options. He knew that some of his stronger attacks would easily be able to clear out these lesser Shadows even from a decent distance away, but if he did that, he was also likely to hit his friends. If their Personas were locked away, he knew that his more powerful attacks would almost certainly injure them, or worse.

What he needed was time, and he knew just how he might be able to get it.

"Beelzebub!" Joker shouted with authority.

As the Lord of the Flies made an appearance on the field of battle, he raised his staff high into the air. A twisted purple energy coated both the demon and the crystal tip of its weapon, soon after which a twisted pale aura exuded out in all directions like a seismic pulse.

"K-Khhh…!"

A wave of groans sounded off from the Shadows as nearly all of them started to stumble away, clasping their ears as if they were being tormented by a specter that only they could see.

Joker ripped his hand across his mask once more, "Kali!"

Every blade of the six-armed Persona began to slice through everything that it came into contact with, using beyond expert precision to dispatch the defenseless Shadows as they continued to grapple with the despair that was afflicting them.

The real show, however, was given by none other than Joker himself. The black-clad Persona user continued to leap and dodge across the arena, using his knife and gun to take down Shadow after Shadow in a display of acrobatics, skill, and agility that was impressive even under the lofty standards that most everyone had of him.

In one remarkable display of force, he took out his pistol and launched bullet after bullet into nearby Shadows, essentially taking down one for every shot he took. His gun quickly ran out of ammo, at which point he tossed a cartridge up in the air before charging his knife with psychic elemental energy. He then rushed a nearby minotaur, cutting it down without extraordinary ease before using its decaying body as a springboard to launch himself into the air, meeting up with the cartridge he'd just thrown into it so as to reload his gun. As he started to crash down into the earth, he started launching shot after shot, taking down enemy after enemy with unbelievable efficiency.

The sight was such that his teammates couldn't help but feed off the energy from it.

"Go, Joker! Goooo!" Panther cheered.

"Yeah, kick their asses!" Skull shouted with all his might.

"You've got this, Joker!" Queen exclaimed.

Even amidst the overpowering noises of the fight taking place at the center of the room, the cheers and cries of support from the imprisoned Persona users filled the air. Sasaki scowled, unable to escape both the nauseating display of support and the annoying skill that the Wild Card was displaying.

The Shadows started to ward off Beelzebub's previous spell, but just as it seemed like they were about to go back to targeting the trapped Persona users, they abruptly stood still.

"Enough," Sasaki stated plainly. He stood up from his throne, walking down the steps before it with authority as he gazed towards the Wild Card. "I'll admit I'm impressed. but this is where the warmup stops."

The Shadows retreated towards the edges and the cages started to shift once again. They sprawled out to form a circle around the central area of the room, behind which the Shadows stayed perfectly stationary.

It was as if an arena had been made with the demons acting as the crowd.

Sasaki stepped into the far side, staring down his opponent opposite of himself. Red flames began to coat his body, charging more furiously with raw energy more and more with each passing second. Golden tribal markings started to run down the sides of his face beneath his eyes while golden lines started to appear in his hair, all the while the energy around him evolved into a full-fledged inferno.

"Come forth… Gilgamesh!"

Though the fires vanished, a wave of pressure shot out in all directions. Most of the trapped Persona users were flung backwards into the walls of their cages, and even Joker found himself sliding backwards a few feet in the wake of the summoning.

From nothingness had risen a tall humanoid warrior with a tanned skin and a muscular frame. His hair was a long and flowing black, as was the lengthy but well-kempt beard that hung from his chin. Almost blindingly golden armor covered his hands, legs, and shoulders, while an intricate belt boasting the visage of a lion held up a purple robe with silver trimmings to cover his lower half. Atop his head was the simple yet immaculate crown which bore a crimson ruby that matched the man's eyes.

Lastly, but certainly not least, was the towering golden spear in his hand. It had the feel of a king's scepter, and the Persona certainly held onto it as if that's exactly what it was meant to be.

"Now then…" Sasaki began. A knife appeared in his hands seemingly out of nowhere, which he brandished in much the same way as Ren himself often did. "Shall we get started, 'Joker'?"

Metaverse: Outside the Entrance of the Sasaki Compound

"Enkidu!"

"Zaou Gongen!"

A shockwave ensued when the two powerful demons clashed fists, and though the very earth shook beneath their feet, neither Yu nor Jirikishi let it slow them down in the least. Just as their Personas were tearing into each other, so too were they. Sparks flew as their swords continued to clash, and though each of them were certainly skilled, it was clear that one was slowly but surely gaining the upper hand.

Yu was eventually able to seize the momentum completely and forced Jirikishi back with one powerful swing. The brown-haired man lost his footing, and he knew he wouldn't be able to recover properly before his opponent launched at him with sword in-hand. He reached for the gun he kept holstered at his side and fired off a bullet to force Yu back, though it was quickly sliced in two courtesy of the approaching Wild Card's katana.

Curiously, however, a cloud of red liquid blew up like a paint grenade after the sword had cut through the bullet. The result was a crimson smokescreen that forced Yu back out of caution before he could complete his swing.

'What the hell was that?' Yu wondered at a loss. 'Was that bullet just now…?'

The silver-haired young man stared curiously at Jirikishi, who observed the now-damaged gun dispassionately. Evidently, his sword had managed to cut through it after all.

"My bad," Jirkikishi muttered. He then tossed the firearm off to the side. "Wrong gun."

Yu said nothing, though he kept his steely gaze ever-locked on his body.

That was fine, though. Words weren't really needed anymore.

Except one, of course.

"Persona!" the two exclaimed in unison.

Izanagi swung its glaive forward and let loose a colossal burst of lighting as Enkidu rampaged forward, though the attack did nothing to stop his advance. Yu, seeing the writing on the wall, tagged out his trademark Persona in favor of summoning Ongyo-Ki, knowing it was by far his best option to mitigate whatever damage was to come.

The towering Oni clashed with Enkidu for only an instant, but yet again another shockwave of force reverberated around the area. The two Personas disappeared in a flash of light, returning to within the sea of their masters' souls.

Both combatants allowed a small break in the endless back and forth as each could feel a lingering sense of fatigue starting to set in.

It was no surprise that the first to recover their energy was Yu.

"Trumpeter!"

"Enkidu!"

Though Jirikishi was quick to respond, he wasn't quite fast enough to beat Trumpeter to the punch. As its synonymous trumpet started to blow, a dull aura of red, green, and blue washed over both himself and his Persona, and almost instantly he could feel the effects. Enkidu had started to charge forward yet again, but he knew the Persona was moving slower than before.

And it went without saying that Yu was more than ready to press his advantage.

"Helel!"

A shower of golden light bathed the area as the six-winged angel made its appearance. In a split second, a massive pressure started to build from the Personas core, giving a clear indication that the creature was empowering its already considerable strength.

Jirikishi knew full well that there was no way Enkidu could stop the charging attack from reaching its peak. He willed his Persona to slow its charge and instead gather its own power in the hopes that perhaps he'd be able to match what was to come, or at the very least offer some kind of defense against it.

Seconds later, a massive God's Hand erupted from Helel's body and shot towards Enkidu like a meteorite launching from the cold reaches of space itself. Enkidu charged both of its fists with all the power he could bring forth in such a short time, and just as attack approached, he slammed his curse-coated fists into the ground and created a massive wave of raw energy that erupted outwards in all directions.

When the two attacks came into contact, a massive explosion ensued. Jirikishi fought to keep himself standing, but he could tell that he'd been on the losing end of the exchange. His Persona had taken a direct hit, and almost instantly he could feel his limbs weakening.

When his legs finally buckled, the pressure from the blast sent him flying across the battlefield. He bounced on the rocky surface repeatedly, landing on his rear and groaning in pain at the sequence of hits his body had taken.

He then looked across the battlefield in an attempt to see where Yu had wound up, though it didn't take him long to find him. The reason was because the young man in question was already standing just a short distance away, having not even a scratch on him as he continued to step closer with his sword firmly gripped in his hands.

Jirikishi chuckled to himself before lying back down on the ground, having neither a weapon nor the will to keep on fighting. It truly seemed as if he'd given up.

"Alright kid, you win," Jirikishi somberly stated, his eyes fixed on the grin red skies of the Metaverse. "It's obvious you're too strong for me. I don't think I could manage to beat you no matter what I try."

"Considering the fact that you're not even trying to seriously fight me in the first place, yeah, I'd say so," Yu shot back.

The brown-haired main chuckled yet again.

"You're giving me too much credit," he replied. "But either way, you won. What happens now… that's up to you."

All that could be heard for a time were the quiet winds that blew through the airs of the battlefield. It became clear that Jirikishi had nothing more to say and was simply awaiting a fate he was all too sure was set in stone.

But the Wild Card wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"Why did you use those fake bullets?" Yu asked.

"Must've grabbed the wrong gun."

"And why save Ren by using that trick coin?"

"Was that what I used? Must've grabbed the wrong coin, I guess."

"I take it the control room to this place is important?"

"Weird of you to ask that, but yeah, of course."

"Then why mention it to us when Joker, Mona and I first got here?"

"Did I? Huh, don't remember… must've just slipped out."

Yet again there was silence, though now more than ever Yu felt he understood what was going on inside of Jirikishi's mind. He sighed, finding himself mildly agitated with the sorry state he was in.

"Why are you even fighting us in the first place? Why be an accessory to all of this? You clearly don't want to be," Yu stated firmly.

No answer was given and the man's body stood as still as a corpse.

"That's okay, you don't need to answer. I think I have a pretty good idea already," Yu went on. He stepped forwards, making certain that he was at least looking into the detective's eyes even if he was trying to avoid eye contact with him. "I know in your heart of hearts that you think all of this is wrong, but at the same time you're terrified of confronting that fact."

Jirikishi chuckled bitterly, closing his eyes as he said, "Is that so?"

"It is. However, if you end up getting the courage to figure that out for yourself…"

The sound of a coin flipping off of a finger pierced the otherwise silent airs of the Metaverse. It landed next to Jirikishi while Yu himself began to walk away, saying not a single word more as he entered the Sasaki compound in silence.

Jirikishi's eyes lazily opened, and with equal enthusiasm, he grabbed the coin that was sitting just off to his side. He brought it in front of his face and twirled it around from front to back, confirming what he already knew to be true.

"…cheeky little shit," Jirikishi muttered with a smirk.

Yet again, there was silence, which lasted until it was broken by the metallic ringing of a coin flipping through the air.

Metaverse: Sasaki Compound – Central Area

"Arsène!"

A targeted wave of curse energy shot towards Gilgamesh, who in turn tapped the bottom of his spear on the ground and sent a shockwave forward that dissipated the mass of darkness. It had the added effect of stunning Arsène for a brief moment, which in turn caused the Persona's wielder to drop his stance.

Sasaki lunged at Ren with the confidence and poise of a seasoned fighter, slicing his knife every which way with effortless precision. Even Joker was clearly hard-pressed to defend himself, but still, the Trickster's skill was enough to hold his own even after starting on the back foot.

Joker forced a brief opening and brought his hand up to his mask. "Black Frost!"

The kingpin vanished in a golden wind as a wave of ice erupted around where his body would have been. Ren scowled at the sight, though he quickly realized he had bigger problems to deal with. A number of spears started to slam into the ground around him, ripping through the stone surface and forcing him to weave his way through the incoming projectiles in his quest for safety.

"Persona!" Joker shouted.

He called on Beelzebub and was ready to fire off a powerful curse attack with the ominous dark energy gathering around the creature's staff acting as proof enough of that fact. However, just before the attack launched, that's when Joker noticed it—the twisted smirk of smug satisfaction that was plastered on Sasaki's expression from ear to ear.

Then and there, he realized what was about to happen and forced Beelzebub to redirect its attack into the skies.

A large swath of the spears that still hovered in the air were taken down, but the incredibly taxing attack accomplished little if anything else.

"…how anticlimactic. I really thought I'd managed to bait you just now," sighed Sasaki. He peered over his shoulder, glancing briefly at Yosuke, Chie, and Naoto who were in the cages in what would've been the blast zone. "Maybe it was overly ambitious of me to try."

A series of bullets fired off courtesy of Ren's pistol. They missed their mark, however, as Gilgamesh placed himself firmly in front of his master and blocked them effortlessly. The Persona then vanished, allowing the gangster to look at the narrowed dark grey eyes beneath lurking beneath the teen's mask.

He sighed, "Fine, have it your way."

Sasaki charged Ren at incredible speeds, capturing him in a brief back and forth clashing of knives before they each broke apart and summoned their Personas.

Joker chose to call on Ongyo-ki, intending to take whatever blow Gilgamesh was about to give with open arms. Though the physical onslaught the golden warrior wrought was more than impressive, the obsidian beast held its own, lasting long enough for its wielder to enact his intended strategy.

With expert acrobatics, the raven-haired Thief of Hearts used his Persona as a springboard and launched himself high into the air. He then recalled Ongyo-ki, readying to swap out to deal what he hoped to be a decisive blow.

"Mada!"

The four-armed blue-skinned demon made its appearance and began to surge with blazing flames. Joker intended for the Persona to descend alongside him and turn the ground into a blazing hellscape, and he would have, too…

Were it not for the fact that the cages started to move towards his landing zone.

Joker recalled Mada in an instant, doing so just seconds away from the point of no return. That, however, left him wide open to an assault from Gilgamesh, who stood at the ready on the grounds below to rip the teen to shreds.

Spears of light began to form on the ground and shot towards the Joker as he neared the floor, and with each and every shot, it seemed that the Wild Card was only just barely able to dodge. When he finally neared the ground, he charged his knife with curse energy before using the side of a nearby ascending spear as a jumping pad to shoot himself towards Gilgamesh itself.

The twisted blackness ripped across the Persona's torso, landing a clean hit. However, it showed almost no effect whatsoever on Sasaki, who did little more than shift uncomfortable in the aftermath of the slash.

Momentarily out of breath, Joker came to a pause after landing, though he held his knife at the ready and was more than prepared to summon another Persona to defend himself if need be.

"I'm surprised you managed to react to the cages repositioning in time," Sasaki thought aloud, tracing a hand across his right ribcage where his other-self had taken the hit. "And I'm even more surprised that you actually managed to hurt me, however slight it may have been."

"Stop hiding behind my friends and I'll shock you even more," Joker shot back.

Sasaki scoffed amusedly, "Actually, that's not a bad idea. To tell you the truth, this is more boring than I imagined it'd be. So…"

The room began to shift again in line with the black-haired man's will. Each of the cages shifted towards the far ends of the room in a wide circle, and for a moment it seemed like an all-out fight between the two Persona users was imminent.

That was until the Shadows started to move in towards the center.

Sasaki in the meantime had moved to the far end of the room in front of the two Nijima sisters. He stood firmly with his towering Persona at his side, all the while even more Shadows started to flood in to the rooms from the still-opened doorways.

Joker sighed, "Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised."

"Then you have good instincts. Really though, you should be grateful. You'll last much longer against them than you ever would against me if I fought you seriously."

Joker quickly found himself surrounded, but he didn't panic in the slightest. If anything, he felt relieved given that now his friends were safely out of reach. He smiled confidently as his hand waved across his face and his mask vanished.

Yoshitsune appeared and quickly made work of almost everything that had been stupid enough to approach. Dozens upon dozens of Shadows were torn apart in an instant, leaving virtually nothing left of the first wave.

One of the few demons that remained conscious was a minotaur who was fighting with all it had to stand back up off the ground. It would never get the chance as a bullet planted itself squarely between his eyes from point blank range and shattered its mask.

A series of spears then descended down from the heavens, targeting Joker without relent and forcing him to dance around the battlefield if he wanted his body to remain in once piece.

'He's really not letting me rest for even a second,' Joker thought with a frown.

The second wave of Shadows was fast approaching, and though the assault from above had stopped, he knew things weren't going to get any easier. He called on Yoshitsune once again, launching a storm of sword attacks at anything within his range.

To the Wild Card's annoyance, the attack took out precious few enemies, though clearly it had slowed a good number of them down. It was clear that this wave wasn't full of pushovers, and he knew full well that things would only get worse from there.

"Alice!" Joker exclaimed.

As the blonde doll-like Persona took center stage, a star-shaped sigil appeared on the ground surrounding the massive group of Shadows. Within it, countless needles appeared, which after a split-second thrust themselves deeply into the torsos of virtually every demonic creature within its scope.

Even as countless of them fell, more Shadows remained, and they wasted no time in continuing their assault even as their comrades turned to dust. Joker gave great consideration to whether or not to use Megidolan then and there to at least give himself some room to breathe, but he knew doing so would undoubtedly start to drain his stamina.

'I could also tag out to a physical damage dealer, but that might not be able to give me the space I need,' Joker mused internally. 'And if things continue like this for much longer—'

His thoughts were interrupted upon detecting a radiant light from above that was racing down ever-closer to his current position. Its source was a number of colossal spears, which took the Trickster by complete surprise. He managed to avoid getting crushed by the unrelenting pressure of their landing, though the Shadows that surrounded him were nowhere near as lucky.

It seemed that half of the twisted creatures were torn apart in an instant, but despite that they weren't deterred in the slightest. Countless of their comrades had been killed by the very master they served, and still the Shadows moved in with everything they had.

"Graaa!"

A number of Ronin charged forward, quickly coming within striking distance of the raven-haired Persona user. The cold steel of their Katanas tore into Joker's trench coat, ripping it to shreds. Though that was it—it was just his trench coat. The Trickster had strategically tossed off the garment, allowing the Ronin to be distracted while he repositioned himself to deal with them all in one fell swoop.

His knife charged with his trademark curse energy and he wasted no time in putting it to good use.

Most of the Shadows were cut down within seconds, and those few that did survive long enough to land a second blow were only able to take one swing at most before a series of bullets shot straight through their heads.

Wave after wave of demons approached and Joker was more than ready to mee them head on. He banished his knife and started to rush forwards, though a hand firmly gripped on his leg prevented him from doing so. He looked down to see the still-decaying corpses of some of the very Ronin he'd just dealt with grabbing onto his body any way they could manage.

Even as they were seconds away from death, they gave their all into slowing him down.

"Persona!" Joker exclaimed.

Yoshitsune made an appearance and cut down the surviving fragments of the Ronin around him while also managing to stave off the others that were still approaching. Things then went from bad to worse as bright, burning lights to shine from all around him at a distance.

The Wild Card turned in disbelief, seeing that on the perimeter of the hoard of Shadows were a number of the animated samurai armors charging their blades with powerful elemental attacks.

Even the Shadows themselves didn't care about their own comrades. Their sole, unrelenting purpose was to see him dead.

'You've got to be kidding me!' Joker thought in both frustration and disbelief. Realizing his position, he ripped his hand over his mask yet again. "Ongyo-ki!"

A barrage of ice, wind, fire, electric, light, and dark shot from a distance, encompassing everything in sight. The symphonic tsunami of raw energy crashed into Joker from all sides, erupting in a massive explosion that shook the entire foundation of the compound.

Only seconds passed before the smoke was forcefully cleared, revealing a very much so alive Ren Amamiya with Zaou Gongen hovering overhead. The Shadows refocused their efforts and were ready to press the attack again, but they were far too late.

The towering manifestation of strength slammed its fist into the ground with the force of a god, cracking the earth and crushing everything around it in the immediate area. A wave of black dust dissipating into the atmosphere followed.

Joker stood tall in the aftermath, though it was clear by the bruises on his body and his heavier than normal breathing that the entire exchange had taken quite a bit out of him. Thankfully, he'd bought himself a moment of rest, as neither the Shadows nor Sasaki himself were currently making any moves.

He knew then that he had an opening he needed to take.

"Ishtar!" Joker exclaimed.

In an instant, the horned pale-skinned goddess appeared and showered the teen with shining green particles to heal the injuries that afflicted him. He could hardly wait for the healing to take effect, however to his incredible surprise, he didn't feel a thing. He looked around confusedly, only to have his attention dragged away by a mocking chuckle that came from Sasaki.

That's when he saw it—the green aura that was subtly pulsing around the black-haired crime lord, all the while the cylindrical container continued to light up with the same twisted aura it had previously.

Sasaki took notice of the shock in the teen's eyes and smirked. "Not that I needed it, but I suppose that does fix the tiny bit of damage you did to me earlier. Thanks for that."

"But… how?" Joker uttered in utter disbelief.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Sasaki asked tauntingly. "This is my world, and that means it plays by my rules."

A shimmering spear appeared just above his head before launching over towards Ren. It missed its mark, but the impact sent a slew of rocks directly into the teen's side.

The damage itself that was inflicted was minimal, but that it did any damage at all was concerning in its own right. Had the Phantom Thief been at his best, there wasn't any chance he'd have taken a hit like that.

It was clear that he was starting to show signs of fatigue, and everyone knew it.

"Face facts, kid, you're no match for a god, and by some twist of fate, that's exactly what I've become," Sasaki stated plainly, as if he were stating a simple fact. "As soon as I'm done here, I'll finally claim what should've been mine years ago. First Shinjuku, then Tokyo, then all of Japan, and then the world. Everything will be mine, and there's nothing that you or anyone else in this room can do to stop that from happening."

Joker had heard ego trips like this before, so it went without saying that he couldn't have cared less about the crap that was spewing from the power-hungry maniac's mouth. He peered over at his left arm, which was now left completely exposed as he was only wearing his sleeveless gray vest, and the sight of it only made him scowl. The bruises he could see were more than apparent, and he could feel it—an unshakable tiredness that pierced through to his very bones.

He needed to do something, and fast.

"Graaa…!"

The quiet hisses of Shadows on the far edges of the room started to echo. It was clear that the hellspawn were about to move out once again, and Joker was well aware of what that meant. He turned his sights towards the kingpin once more, and though he knew what he was about to do was likely both stupid and risky, he knew it was just about the only option he had that would accomplish anything at all.

"Here goes something…" Joker whispered to himself.

The raven-haired teen started to sprint forward with everything he had, rushing headfirst towards Sasaki where he stood at the far end of the room. At first, the crime lord was surprised, but that didn't last long. When he realized what was happening, he could only manage to be amused.

"Out of options already?" Sasaki chuckled. A sickly gold aura coated his eyes as a wicked smirk tugged at his lips. "Fine, let's get this over with."

Gilgamesh planted its regal spear into the ground, all the while it cocked back its now-free arm and summoned a massive spear of bright white light. It radiated the properties of an almighty attack and then some with its overpowering presence creating a torrent of winds that whipped across the room at its onset.

The gold-glad Persona waited and waited, holding the spear in its hand until just the right moment. Then, when the time finally came—when the leader of the Phantom Thieves was just the right distance away—he hurled it forward and let its destructive power loose.

Just the sight of the weapon in motion struck members of the Phantom Thieves and the Investigation team with an unmatched sense of fear. As the very grounds the spear passed over were torn to shreds, it became astoundingly clear that there wasn't any way to evade the attack at such close range.

There was just one thing that gave them hope, and that was the confident smile still showing on the Trickster's face.

'Not yet…' Joker thought.

He focused with everything he had left in him on the approaching attack, knowing full-well that right now was a make-or-break moment. If he managed to evade, he'd be gifted an opportunity he'd been after since the beginning of the fight, though if he failed, he would almost certainly be ripped in half.

Everyone watched on the edge of their seats as the spear finally neared the Wild Card. It seemed almost certain that the entire right side of his body was about to be ripped off, but at what had to have been just the last second, he ducked off to the side.

It looked outright impossible. The force of the spear passing him by alone should've sent him flying, and yet even so, he stayed on his feet. Even the ground around him was shattering, and yet the Trickster himself stood firm.

Everything happened so quickly that no one could really process anything, whether it was Sasaki's disbelief or his friends' relief. Perhaps the sole person capable of doing anything in the wake of his unbelievable feat was Ren himself, who placed his hand firmly on his mask and prepared to reap the rewards of his gamble.

"Michael!" Joker exclaimed.

The Wild Card had summoned a golden armored spear-wielding Persona of his own, and without any semblance of hesitation, he willed the angel to throw its heavenly spear forward with all of its might.

Sasaki broke out of his stupor the second that the attack had started to head his way, but by then it was too late. Time moved at a tenth the speed, and though Gilgamesh was moving to protect him, he himself could tell that he had no power to stop what was coming right at him. If it managed to hit his head, he wasn't sure that his 'cognition' would be able to fix it. He'd never bothered to do so before, and so there was a strong possibility that if it took off a part of his brain, that was it.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Sasaki felt human. He could sense the reflexive fear of the inevitable creep up within him, and with each passing second, he was forced to wait, it continued to build. But then it happened…

The spear missed.

It flew right by the kingpin's head, taking only a few hairs off his head as it zoomed by before it crashed into the far-side of the room just behind him.

"G-Ghh…!" Joker grunted in pain.

The Trickster had abruptly started to stumble. He clenched the right side of his abdomen as a great deal of blood started to stain his trademark gray vest. The deep red continued to pour out of what was clearly a massive gash, dripping onto the floor and down his body.

It seemed to be a miracle that he was even standing at all.

There was absolute silence as a heart-wrenching sense of dread gripped everyone's throats. The lone exception was Sasaki, who found his confidence returning at the sight of his now severely injured opponent.

"I'll admit, that caught me completely off guard. I'm genuinely impressed," Sasaki began, a begrudging sense of respect in his voice. "However, that was the closest chance you were going to have at actually hurting me, and you blew it."

Yet again something happened that took the black-haired man by surprise. He good a good look at Joker's expression and caught sight of a cocky smirk. It had to be a figment of his imagination, or so he first thought.

He soon realized that, astoundingly, his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"What the hell could you possibly be grinning about?" asked Sasaki. "You took you best shot and the only thing you have to show for it is a giant hole in the right side of your body. You. Missed. Don't you understand that?"

"Who said I was aiming for you?" Joker countered.

Sasaki's first reaction was annoyed disbelief, but he soon realized that if he wasn't the Wild Card's target, then there was only one other possibility. He turned around with unmatched urgency, catching a glimpse of the large cylindrical container that rested at the far end of the room just behind where he stood.

The spear that Michael had thrown hit the edge of the device right on the mark. Sparks and flames had already started to fly out in all directions, and seconds later, a large explosion erupted and shattered more than half of the casing in an instant.

Gilgamesh appeared to guard its master from the debris that shot across the area, and though Sasaki himself was physically fine, it was beyond clear that the device's destruction shook him beyond anything that anyone could've expected. He watched with stunned horror and panic as a black mist left the frame of the device, after which the light and darkness that glowed within it faded altogether.

Dozens of Shadows all around the room started to fade away. They began collapsing in on themselves, leaving the world with nothing more than a series of raspy gasps as their lives came to an end. The cries of their deaths broke Sasaki out of his stupor. He balled his fists, his veins bulging as he turned to face the Trickster once more.

Sasaki appeared in front of Ren faster than most eyes could see. He wasted no time sending a punch across the side of his face which came too quick for the injured teen to react. The kingpin continued his assault, sending fist after fist into the weakened Wild Card's frame until he finally collapsed onto one knee.

He ripped him off the ground, bringing him to eye level and glaring into his gray orbs with everything he had.

"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Sasaki asked through gritted teeth.

Joker looked at him with the same infuriating grin. "If it pissed you off this much, I guess that just means it was the right thing to do."

In a fit of pure unbridled rage, Sasaki threw the teen back onto the ground before kicking him on his injured right side with such force that he flew backwards several feet.

The blow clearly made Joker's physical condition even worse. He began to cough up blood, all the while even more blood started to pour out of the wound on his right side like a faucet of red water.

"Ren!" Queen screamed.

"R-Ren! Hang in there, we'll…!" Panther shouted.

Many started to desperately shake the bars of their cages while Skull and Panther in particular had started to ram into the side of their prisons with everything they had left in them.

Every slam sounded as if it shattered their very bones, and yet still, they continued.

"Come on, break!" Skull roared. "Break, you stupid fucking piece of shit!"

The others struggled similarly, but it changed nothing. It seemed that even though the Wild Card had damaged Sasaki's cognitive hold on the Metaverse, he hadn't quite erased it.

"Truly touching, but I'm done playing games now. I've clearly let this go on long enough," Sasaki growled angrily. He leapt backwards across the battlefield, placing himself just in front of the Nijima sisters. "Persona!"

Gilgamesh appeared and immediately held its regal weapon high into the sky. The ruby-red jewel at the center of the spear's tip began to pulse with a blinding white light, which began to draw in energy from the very atmosphere itself. The attack continued to charge, growing in power and scope at an alarming rate.

It was an attack meant to wipe out everything. Joker, the cages—even the entirety of the compound that had the misfortune of being on the opposite side of the spell.

"Die!" Sasaki exclaimed.

As the Persona's attack had nearly reached the height of its charge, a massive bolt of lighting slammed into its side, ruining its concentration and breaking the spell's cast in an instant. The energy that had gathered dissipated, letting the entire room breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Sasaki snarled as smoke breathed off of his Persona, "Who the hell just…?!"

All of his rage vanished in favor of disbelief as he saw Yu Narukami stepping towards Joker's side. Though his clothing was coated in blood, every other aspect of his appearance gave off the image of a man that was very much alive.

"Ishtar!" Yu exclaimed.

Sasaki knew the mentioned Persona to be a healer based on what he'd seen earlier, and so regardless of his current shock at seeing the silver-haired man in one piece, he immediately took action to prevent him from healing his younger counterpart.

Gilgamesh launched a ray of concentrated wind, which shot out of the golden weapon's tip like a cyclone just as it had started to cast its spell. It slammed into an invisible barrier that had been prepared in advance of Yu entering the room, and though it shattered like glass on impact, it succeeded in cancelling out the powerful elemental attack entirely.

As the green energy particles began to descend around the two Wild Cards, Sasaki could only stew in his own anger. Ren's wound began to close, and the shadow of death vanished from his eyes.

Yu extended a hand towards his friend as he lay on the ground, "Sorry it took me so long."

"I'd call it a fashionably late arrival," Joker said with a laugh.

When the Trickster was up off the ground and the two stood tall side by side, it was clear that Sasaki's supreme confidence was no longer present. What was present, however, was a deep-seeded killer intent.

The kingpin called forth a double-sided spear to his hand and gestured it forwards. The legion of Shadows that still remained started to stir, clearly responding to his will even in spite of the recently destroyed device weakening his control.

"Kill them. Now."

Those simple words were all that was said before he and his minions began to charge forwards from all sides.

Metaverse: Sasaki Compound – Control Room

A number of Yakuza drones manned the large-reaching control area of the base, panicking frantically as everything seemed to begin going haywire at the drop of a hat.

A blaring red sired sounded off without warning, making each of the Shadows swear under their breath.

"Ugh, what now?" one asked.

"T-There's an intruder on the perimeter of the eastern bloc."

"Another one? You've gotta be shittin' me."

"Is it the Black Biker?"

"I can't tell! Our instruments are all going crazy! I-It's like a madhouse in here!"

"What the hell even happened?! One second everything's fine, and the next—boom!"

"Doesn't matter. We just need to get this shit under control, end of story. In the meantime, we need to hope our troops can hold off this new intruder until our communications channel comes back online."

Overlooking the entire operation was Morgana, who sat atop a perch in a small ventilation shaft that hovered over the center of the room. The feline observed the chaos with a confident smile, well aware that whatever had happened, it was to his absolute advantage.

'Somehow, I bet I've got Joker to thank for this…' Mona thought. 'Guess that means I better not mess this up. Come on, Morgana, you've got this!'

The feline steeled himself before quietly dropped to the grounds below. With the entrance sealed behind him, and with not a single Shadow aware of his presence, he gathered all of the energy he could to mount perhaps the most important sneak attack of his life.

One of the Shadows noticed the buildup of pressure and turned over his shoulder curiously. "Hm…? H-Hey, what the—!"

"Zoro!" Mona shouted.

A massive burst of wind sliced sent the grunt and virtually all of his other comrades flying. Mona then took out his slingshot and took out the others before they could make so much as a sound.

"Heh, still got it," he muttered proudly.

The cat-like Persona user didn't get much time to bask in his victory before reinforcements showed up. From all corners of the room, a legion of Halberies seeped through the walls. Worse was that the entrance burst open, revealing a pair of animated armors that came rushing in from behind to flank him outright.

As the Ronin's katanas slammed down towards him, Mona leapt into the air before using one of the Shadows' torsos as a springboard to propel himself in the middle of the swarm of spherical demons that had still yet to make an aggressive move.

"Persona!" Mona exclaimed.

Being within the nexus of the gathered Halberies, he summoned Zoro and sent a raging tempest ripping through all of the space that surrounded him. Dozens of his targets were killed off in an instant, leaving only a few stragglers to be dealt with.

They began to charge him alongside the Ronin, though Morgana was more than ready for the challenge. He began to cross blades with the Shadows while his Persona dealt with the remaining airborne enemies, and to his credit, he managed to hold his own.

The fight continued in a stalemate pattern in which Morgana gradually started to whittle away the flying Shadows so that he could focus everything on the real threat. He fought as perfectly as he could, truly giving everything, he had in that moment. If things continued like that, he was sure to take the victory, but sadly things wouldn't be so simple.

Without warning, several Halberies started to come up from the ground beneath his feet and caught him completely by surprise. He sliced through as many as he could with his sword and managed to deal with the sneak attack incredibly well. However, the Shadows had never really intended to do any damage. They'd only wanted to distract him.

"Hraa!I"

A battlcry from one of the nearby Ronin tore Morgana's focus towards an incoming electrical attack that had been shot towards him by one of their blades. Having no time to react, all he could do was brace himself and hope for the best.

The feline shot across the room seconds later, feeling the impact of the electrical energy right down to his bones. He wasted no time in trying to get up, but his limbs wouldn't even move an inch. His eyes scanned his arms and legs in a panic, and at the sight of static electricity still occasionally sparking around his body.

Now paralyzed, Morgana could do nothing as the Ronin and the Halberies started to approach. If he didn't shake off the static shock before they attack him, then that was it.

However, it went without saying that he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Get up… get up, dammit…!" Mona whispered.

He tried with everything he had in him to shake off both his injuries and paralysis, and though his will was strong, his body had simply taken too much damage. Despite all of that, he refused to give in. He knew he couldn't afford to fail, and as such a fire like no other lit in his eyes as he readied to summon his Persona to face the approaching Shadows.

Then everything went dark.

At first Mona thought that his vision had simply failed on account of his injuries, but seconds later, the blackness faded gradually and his sight returned. Strangely, the Shadows were gone. Not even a trace of them remained.

"What the…?" Mona uttered in bewilderment. He stood up and looked around the room, finding absolutely nothing.

Everything was quiet. Frighteningly quiet.

He could almost hear a twisted laugh in the wind that often filled the gaps of sound in the Metaverse.

Mona shook his head, "I don't have time to think about this right now. I've gotta focus up!"

The feline healed his wounds before jumping over to the main control panel where he immediately started to observe the security cameras in the central area. He could see an epic battle taking place between Sasaki and his forces against Yu and Ren, and though it was eye-catching to be sure, he was far more concerned with the cages that trapped their teammates.

"If Jirikishi was telling the truth, then there's gotta be a way I can unlock those cages from here," Mona thought aloud. "Now to find out how…"

He started to comb over the buttons as quickly as he could, though that did him little good. A frustrated sigh escaped the cat-like Persona user's lips as his best efforts had given him nothing when time was clearly of the essence.

"Come on, Morgana, you can figure this out."

Something—or more specifically someone—stepped into his vision on his right side, taking a spot right up against the terminal. A stunned and momentarily shocked Mona turned to see that it was none other than Tetsuo Jirikishi.

"Here, let me give you a hand," he said.

Within seconds and after clicking only a few buttons on the terminal, it looked like he'd accomplished exactly that.

"Deactivating restraints," announced a robotic voice.

"There we go," Jirikishi muttered to himself. "That was what you were after, right?"

"…yeah, it was," Mona replied, regaining his composure as his surprise dissipated. "So, you're on our side now?"

"Certainly looks that way."

"What brought you around?"

Jirikishi smirked almost amusedly, "I flipped a coin."

Thoughts of the very same coin that he'd used to spare Joker's life came into Mona's mind. Even though he lacked sufficient context to truly understand the meaning behind the detective's half-joke, he at least knew that his words and feelings were now genuine.

"Anyway, you should get out of here and go help your friends," Jirikishi abruptly stated, turning his attention back towards the main terminal. "I'll work from here to shut the whole show down. It might take a while, but even if you can't beat my brother, I should at least be able to guarantee a long-term victory."

Mona blinked. "Hang on, this whole place can seriously be shut down from here? Just like that?!"

"I wouldn't say 'just like that', and not just anyone can do it," Jirikishi replied, appearing razor focus as his fingers danced across the keys. "Giving you the abridged version, my brother's cognition is partially in control of the entire city, but in here it's at its absolute strongest. However, he can't focus on everything all at once, so this room is to help expand and focus his cognition as needed."

"Meaning that if you manage to shut it down, the entire Metaverse in the section of this city will collapse altogether," Mona realized.

"That's the idea," he replied plainly. "Anyway, like I said before, you should get going. Trust me when I say nobody other than my brother and maybe myself has a shot at taking this terminal down."

Perhaps it was a bit of a risk on some level, but Morgana was quick to put his trust in the detective. After all, he'd more than seen his fair share of people in search of honest redemption, and he could tell the man in front of him was exactly that.

"Good luck," said Mona as he began to walk away. "Oh, and thanks for the save earlier. I'd have been royally crewed if you didn't take out those Shadows."

Jirikishi blinked confusedly, "Hm? But I didn't…"

The brown-haired man turned around to see that the feline was already gone. He quickly shook his head, knowing he didn't have any time to pay his parting words any mind.

He had far more important work to do.

Metaverse: Sasaki Compound – Central Area

"Persona!"

The battle cry synonymous with fights in the Metaverse resounded across the battlefield. Gods, demigods, and tricksters clashed in the skies, all while their masters did the same on the ground.

Yu and Ren went at Sasaki with everything they had, striking in such perfect synchrony that it seemed beyond impossible. Whenever one would come at Sasaki with their blade, the other was at the side, either firing off their gun or readying to strike with their own weapon once the other backed off. The two Wild Cards appeared to be at the peak of their powers, and yet one inconvenient fact remained…

They made virtually no progress against their opponent.

Sasaki, now tired of the monotony of their barrage, planted his spear onto the ground. "Pests!"

A shockwave slammed into the two wielders of the Fool, bouncing them back like volleyballs. They landed on their feet, but were given no time to rest. An arching wave of fire had started to rage in their direction, stemming of course from the enemies Persona.

"Surt!" Yu exclaimed.

The obsidian demon appeared and began to absorb the incoming fire within its body and blade, though clearly Sasaki had anticipated the move. Gilgamesh moved in faster than the silver-haired young man was prepared for, charging through the flames and sending a piercing blow directly into the Persona's toros.

Yu recoiled when the attack struck, leaving him momentarily open as was Sasaki's intent. The kingpin dove in, ready to slice the Wild Card in two, but of course he hadn't moved fast enough to avoid the other's intervention.

"Beelzebub!" Joker roared.

A massive geyser of curse energy shot up in front of Yu, forcing Sasaki to back off. He glared heavily at the Trickster in the aftermath, clearly annoyed that he was being so continuously warded off.

Seemingly in response to their master's rage, a large number of Shadows started to move in. Countless Ronin ran at the pair without any regard for their own lives, and of course it went without saying that they were quickly cut down.

One of the last few standing raised its blade as it glowed brilliantly with a burning red flame.

"Graaaa!" it howled.

A bullet shot straight through its head courtesy of Yu's pistol. The Shadow disintegrated within seconds, and with that the Ronin's attack was forced to a close.

Both Yu and Ren stared down their opponent in the quiet that followed, which only seemed to anger him all the more.

"That all you got?" Joker asked cheekily.

Sasaki gripped his spear so tightly that the veins in his arms nearly popped out of his skin. And seconds later, another blow to his mood would strike.

The sound of clanking metal gears echoed throughout the room, catching the attention of each of the embattled trio. Without any warning whatsoever, the cages that housed the captured Persona users started to fall to pieces.

"What…?!" Sasaki uttered in disbelief.

His first instinct was to shift his gaze towards Sae and Makoto, and his blood boiled when he saw that even they too were being freed. He was stunned, unable to understand or comprehend how something like that could even happen.

From a nearby exit, a taunting voice called out, "Why so surprised?"

A massive wind attack tore through the squad of Shadows that had stood still at the leftmost entrance of the room. The kingpin himself alongside all the others saw a very self-assured Morgana make his entrance known.

"Your control room could use better guards, by the way," the feline added.

"Heh, so that was you, huh?" Skull asked. He stood up from the ground, cracking his knuckles and looking on at the Shadows nearby with evident bloodlust in his eyes. "Guess we owe you one. Nice work, Mona."

All around the room, blue fires began to rage over the bodies of the legion of Persona users. The Shadows that surrounded them tried to move in to take them out on instinct before they managed to summon their other selves, but it went without saying that they were too late.

"Persona!"

The one singular word echoed throughout the room as each and every Persona held by each and every member of the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves made its entrance onto the battlefield. A virtual tornado of elemental attacks shot out in all directions, killing off countless Shadows in the process.

A stunned Sasaki looked around in disbelief. It was as if for the second time, his world was shattering before his very eyes. For now, they were still just cracks tearing at the seams, but he knew better the second time around.

Those cracks were just the beginning.

A strong punch to his face broke him out of his stupor. He shot across the room, though he stabilized rather quickly. He looked over in anger at his assailant and found himself unsurprised by who it was.

Fittingly, the one that dealt the blow was the first offspring of the man that destroyed his world the first time all those years ago. He held his cheek, looking at the silver-haired woman's fiery red eyes.

The same fiery red eyes he'd seen in Akashi Nijima all those years ago.

"For the record, that's how you throw a punch," Sae stated firmly. She gripped her twinblade, all the while her younger sister stepped to her side. "And if you need another example, don't worry about it. You'll be getting plenty, I promise you that."

In tandem, the Nijima sisters shot towards him with every bit of speed they could muster. Queen was the first to call on her Persona, racing towards Sasaki from his side and burning a nuclear trail in her wake purely to force a reaction. He dodged and was about to retaliate with his own Persona, though in doing so he'd placed his focus entirely on his front.

Just as Queen had hoped he would.

"Zaou Gongen!"

Sasaki could hear Joker's voice coming directly behind him, but by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. He tried his best to guard with his forearms, though when taking a direct hit from a God's Hand, it would do him little good.

The golden fist slammed down onto him from above with such force that a crater formed beneath his feet. To his credit, he remained standing, though it was obvious that doing so put a heavy strain on his body.

Sasaki wasted no time in shoring up his defenses. "Gilgamesh!"

In an instant, the gold-clad demigod came roaring back into battle. He started to gather a mass of energy in the tip of his spear, clearly preparing for a massive attack meant to reset the state of the fight.

"Yoshitsune!"

"Astrea!"

A storm of blades came at Gilgamesh from all directions at the speed of light. Countless slash marks tore across his previously flawless armor, and though his body remained intact, the hits he'd taken showed as clear as day.

The damage wasn't limited to the Persona, either. As he was recoiling from the blows his other-self had taken, Yu and Sae went into action and struck at Sasaki directly. The cold steel of their blades slashed across his torso. The hits they landed were both clean and direct, and even if they only just barely broke through his skin, the fact that any damage was done at all was more than proof enough of who was now in the driver's seat of the fight.

Sasaki, disoriented from the force of the attacks that had just pelted his body, tried to gather himself and make a stand. However, before he could even manage to pick himself up fully, the silver haired duo struck him again and again. Though his body remained dry of blood, each of the blows was so powerful that he continued to be hammered every which way. His Persona vanished as he became unable to keep his focus, a problem he knew he needed to solve quickly.

The brown-haired man vanished into thin air without warning, appearing as far away from the ongoing assault as he could manage. He wasted no time retaliating, wanting nothing more than to regain the upper hand with one massive display of force.

"Gilgamesh!" Sasaki roared once more.

His Persona appeared at his side once more, gathering energy within its spear so rapidly that it was impossible to stop its charge. The Megidolan fired from Gilgamesh's weapon, creating a constant streaming beam that raged across the battlefield.

Most would've been intimidated at the sight, or at the very least moved out of the way as quickly as they could. Ren and Yu did neither and instead stood in place, facing it down without even a shred of fear.

The reason was simple: they no longer needed to hold back since the only thing in front of them was Sasaki himself.

As the attack approached, they were ready to respond with everything they had.

"Helel!"

"Lucifer!"

Sasaki could see the outline of two massive beings appear in front of the Wild Cards, but in his mind it simply didn't matter. There was no way they would've been able to respond to his attack in time…

Which is why it coming as a great surprise that he didn't see an explosion.

And he was even more surprised to see an even larger wave of almighty light fast approaching despite the fact that his Persona continued to pour more and more power into its own beam.

The crime lord hadn't truly realized what was happening until it was too late. He braced himself as best as he could, but the weight of the two Morning Stars fired off from angels of light and dark were simply too powerful. He felt the attack wash over him, erupting in a massive explosion all around his body.

An entire section of the room surrounding Sasaki lit up brighter than a sky filled with fireworks. Smoke and fore breathed through the air, though in its center, the kingpin was still standing.

"Dammit! How the hell…?!" Sasaki hissed.

He was about to will his Persona to clear the smoke that surrounded him, however yet again he found himself taken by surprise. The Nijima sisters were already right in front of him, having dove through the smoke to get to him before he fully gathered himself.

'Impossible!' Sasaki thought in utter disbelief as he saw their weapons fast-approaching. 'For them to have done something like this, they'd have needed to start moving even as my attack was firing off. That means…'

Somehow, someway, they simply knew.

They knew that the Wild Cards would face his attack head on.

They knew that the Wild Cards would manage to push him back.

And now all that was left was the certainty of their attack, which sent the kingpin flying back into the wall at the far-end of the room. The stone surface cracked on impact, and though he saved himself an outright fall to the ground, he wound up on a lone knee.

He picked his head up, and it was in that moment that he saw Yu, Ren, Sae, and Makoto charging at him with their Persona's following close behind. They weren't going to give him even a second of reprieve.

Sasaki looked on as time seemed to run at a hundredth the speed. He knew that if he did nothing that he was about to be defeated. He was going to lose. Everything that he'd built in the last few weeks would come crashing down.

And he wouldn't let that happen.

He couldn't let that happen.

An invisible force shot out from Sasaki's very being and send his attackers flying. The pressure continued to mount, shaking the very foundations of the compound to its very core.

A raging golden aura lit in the kingpin's eyes, all the while golden flames melted away his shirt. The tribal markings of the same color that took their place on his face started to extend down his bare chest, back, and arms.

From the feel of his aura to his appearance itself, he seemed almost divine in nature.

"That's enough…!" Sasaki growled under his breath, the fiery gold glow of his eyes raging even more so as he spoke. "In this world, I am a god. It's high time I show you exactly what that means!"

Gilgamesh appeared at his side without the need to even be called, its presence somehow even more imposing than prior. He quickly swept his lance across the air before him, sending a burst of blinding light arching outwards in a wave.

The energy's sheer width was such that both Ren and Yu knew they needed to block it out if they wanted their teammates to remain unharmed, and so of course that's exactly what they did. They successfully called out Personas to absorb the incoming bless attack, though little did they know was exactly what their opponent wanted.

With blinding speed, Sasaki appeared directly behind the Wild Cards, sending a blow directly at their blind spots that sent the pair flying. Sae and Makoto moved in to counter, only for their lunging strikes to be dodged entirely. They searched around for signs of his reemergence, only to each receive a strong kick to the side that sent them flying away in much the same was as Ren and Yu.

"Gilgamesh!" Sasaki exclaimed.

As a follow-up to his previous successfully strikes, he buried the entire area in front of him with fire, wanting nothing more than to keep mounting on the pressure. To his mild interest, even in the wake of the blazing inferno he'd just unleashed, he could see three Persona's on the approach.

Gilgamesh summoned a total of seven floating spears to his side—each identical to the regal weapon he carried in his hand—before then leaping into battle at remarkable speeds. A thunderous boom of steel clashing with steel echoed throughout the arena, but that by no means indicated it was an even fight. Whether it was Izanagi, Arsène, or Astrea, each were overpowered with frightening ease.

Still, Sasaki knew that actually beating his Persona wasn't their intent. What they wanted was to distract him and leave him open.

That's why it came as no surprise to him that the younger of the Nijima sisters was currently rampaging towards him from his side.

"Johanna!" Queen roared.

The brunette's Persona became a raging ball of nuclear energy and quickly raced towards Sasaki with the full force of a raging sun. He, however, didn't flinch in the slightest. He just extended his hand at the final moment, forcing Johanna to a complete and total stop.

Queen's eyes went wide at the unbelievable sight. Every bit of power she'd gathered, every shred of momentum—it vanished in an instant, and all the man needed to do was hold out his hand.

"Nice try," Sasaki stated emotionlessly.

He brandished his spear and readied to run her through, and he'd have done just that too, were it not for the timely intervention on the part of the other three that had plagued him up until that point.

With effortless grace and poise, he dodged the incoming strikes from Yu, Ren, and Sae, and in a show of complete confidence and control, he didn't even bother to counterattack. He simply leapt away from them outside of their effective range.

A stillness washed over the battlefield, clearly a result of the scales shifting in Sasaki's favor. Try as they might, neither Yu nor any of the others could deny that his current level of power was a problem.

And Sasaki was aware of that better than anyone.

"I hope that wasn't the best you could do," said the kingpin. He raised his arm into the sky, adding, "Otherwise, I'm afraid this might just do you in for good."

Gilgamesh summoned dozens upon dozens of spears in the air once more. The golden-bladed weapons hovered in place, eventually becoming coated in all manner of elemental energy. Some sparked with electric power, others were coated in darkness, and some of light—and even others pulse with ice while others with fire.

Each of the spears began to rain down upon the earth, forcing the squad of Persona users to evade to the best of their abilities. That, however, was far easier said than done, as when each of the spears slammed into the ground, the elemental power that coated them erupted in all directions.

Whether it was Yu, Sae, Joker, or Queen, not a single one of them managed to fully avoid damage. They were far from finished, but still clearly worn down from the seemingly endless barrage.

Sasaki chose to focus on the silver-haired Wild Card in particular in the aftermath of his onslaught. He came charging at his side, weapon in hand, and assaulted him with the speed and ferocity of a cheetah.

Yu created the slightest of openings, using it to call a tarot card forth in his hand. "Yoshitsune!"

A storm of blades roared around his body, slashing Sasaki in the process. The brown-haired man retreated, blood dripping down his chest as he hopped away. He peered over at the wound, shortly after which a golden light coated it before leaving his body fully healed in its wake.

"…I suppose I'll need to pay you back for this," Sasaki mused.

A large series of large spears formed at his side and launched towards him at incredible speeds. It took little effort on Yu's part to evade. In fact, it took shockingly little effort.

The silver-haired young man refocused his efforts on Sasaki and planned on charging him for a counterattack, only to pause at the sight of the twisted smugness that was plastered all over his face.

He couldn't understand it. After all, he hadn't been hurt at all, and no additional attack was coming at him whatsoever.

'His attack didn't do anything, so why is he…?' Yu wondered, only for his eyes to widen in realization a half-second later. 'Dammit, he wasn't aiming for me!'

A quick turn over his shoulder revealed that the massive spears were still flying through the air and heading straight towards the far-side of the arena where flames kissed the air.

And Yu knew he was too late. There was nothing he could do to stop them now.

Yukiko readied her fan and focused up, unaware of what was to come. "Konohaka Saku—"

A massive crashing blow struck the earth a short distance away, sending countless boulders and chunks of rubble flying across the area. The force of the impact sent Yukiko flying, all the while debris pelted her more and more with each passing second.

Not one to remain knocked down, the heiress wasted no time picking herself up after she finally hit the ground.

"K-Khhh!" Yukiko hissed in pain. She grimaced as she looked down at her leg, seeing a fair amount of blood running down her calm from a newly-created gash.

Her wounds weren't limited to her one leg, either. Wounds of varying degrees were strewn throughout her body, and much to her annoyance, she could feel them take an immediate tole.

"Graaa…!"

The subtle haunting groans of the nearby Shadows caught her ears, and with wide fear-stricken eyes, she turned to see that the demons had started to surround her. Even as her vision started to blur, she could see them stepping closer and closer, even as their comrades were still fading away in the aftermath of their own master's previous attack.

"Yukiko!" Yu shouted urgently.

The Wild Card started to sprint towards her to give his assistance only to be knocked to the side courtesy of a strong elbow that struck at his ribcage. He tried to continue moving forward, but Sasaki cut him off and placed himself firmly between him and the far end of the room.

"As if I'd make it that easy," Sasaki scoffed.

While Yu was now barred from helping the heiress, so too it seemed were the rest of his teammates. All around the room, countless demons swarmed the area in a clear attempt to stop anyone from being able to reach Yukiko.

Worse, it was working. Chie especially fought like a banshee and felled foe after foe in an attempt to free up a path to her closest friend, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that her efforts were entirely in vain.

The chilling battle cry of the Shadows that surrounded her resounded, "Raaaa!"

Even under the threat of what would possibly be her own end, Yukiko didn't even flinch. She could hardly even stand, but her will didn't falter. With a fire in her eyes that matched her other-self, she readied to face them with everything she had left.

"Persona!"

A shocked Yukiko froze in place. Though she'd certainly thought that word, she wasn't the one to utter it. She watched as a massive wave of electricity bolted through everything in sight, and its power was such that seconds later, what had been a legion of demons quickly started to fade into ashes.

That's when she saw it—a Persona standing tall just over her shoulder. It stood as a tall humanoid warrior with shining white armor that gave off an ancient Roman appearance, which was only emphasized by the laurel leaves that adorned its head. Its skin was a deep obsidian, and it wore a cape with innards colored a royal red over its back.

Within one hand it held a sword, shining in white, but in its other was a literal world, being held closely to its side as if the Persona itself were safeguarding it above his own life.

"Hup!"

The shining warrior firmly raised its shining blade into the skies with the commanding authority of an emperor. A wave of bright green stars then coated Yukiko's body, closing her wounds in mere seconds as the spell took its course.

Then a hand extended towards her—a human hand.

Still in shock, she took in the appearance of a man that she didn't recognize in the least. He was fairly tall, sported short gray hair, and wore a rather presentable suit.

What truly caught her eyes, however, were his deep red tie, and the pair of black leather gloves that adorned his hands.

In a flash, the man had swooped in, saved Yukiko, then healed her, and yet not a soul knew who he was.

Save for exactly one.

"Akihiko…?" Yu uttered in disbelief.

A/N I'd wager no one saw that ending coming, but it'll be explained in the next chapter more or less. That'll come in another two weeks, which will be the end of this arc of the story.

Explanations:

Akihiko: Like I said I'd bet money no one expected him to show up now, but yes, he will be the first member of the P3 cast to make a consistent appearance in this story. There will be more of them, but this is where it starts. How Yu knows him I'm sure some can probably guess. Why he's there, that'll be revealed next chapter.

Fun Fact: There's a random 'throwaway' bit earlier in the story in chapter 21. When Yu is waiting for Jirikishi, the person he thinks he spots in the corner of his eye is Akihiko. That's what the 'red' was referring to since it's the color Akihiko is most known for.

The Rest of the P3 Cast: This is the point in the story where it transitions into involving all three casts. It'll be a pretty good amount of time (thinking at least 10 or so chapters) before they actually show up, but that's where it's headed. As a heads up, I won't be involving all of them though, it'll only be a select few and they'll mostly be there for story and character-related reasons. I apologize in advance if your favorite character doesn't make the 'cut', but I've also gotta draw the line somewhere given that I don't wanna have a story where I'm telling the story of like 40 different characters xD.

Jirikishi: Obviously, he's conflicted about pretty much everything and his actions show that. Even though he covered his brother's tracks in the SPD, he still helped Sae's coworker find all the case files that he'd previously hidden knowing that it'd wind up in Yu & co's hands. Even though he led Yu and the others into the 'safehouse', he refused to let Yu or Ren (or any of them, really) die. Even though he tries to stop Yu at the front, he doesn't really fight and even tells them about the control room etc. He's someone that knows what he should be doing but can't bring himself to abandon his brother because that's the only family that he has left and the only family other than his adoptive father that he's ever had. There's more to the story and how he feels that'll be delved more into next chapter, but needless to say this is meant to be the start of his 'redemption'.

Ryuji and Ann Trying to Break the Cages: This is a small detail, but I've said before (I think?) that I really enjoy the relationship dynamic between Ren, Ryuji, and Ann. While I have my issues with how P5 handled the relationship at large that the Phantom Thieves share as a group, I think that the one area P5 knocked out of the park was that these three seem like legit close friends. For this story, I've tried to create a feel that the three of them are the closest among the Phantom Thieves as friends, so them fighting a bit more desperately to try and help Ren when he's about to die is just another way for me to illustrate that.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu (Personas of Sasaki and Jirikishi): For anyone not familiar, Gilgamesh is considered one of if not the oldest hero stories in history. Basically, dude was 2/3rds god and 1/3rd man and at the beginning of his life he walked around like he owned the place just doing whatever the hell he wanted. Humans complained to the gods that Gilgamesh was basically acting like an a-hole and of course they couldn't do anything about it. The gods then made Enkidu, half man half beast, to be a match for Gilgamesh. In the story, after they fight initially, they basically become brothers and Enkidu acts as an anchor for Gilgamesh making sure that he doesn't give in to his tendency to be a complete and total asshole. Just wanted to state the symbolism outright so people knew.