Chapter 7: Persona Execution

4/17
Sunday; Daytime

Touma and Twila were riding the train to go to Shibuya "I thought you weren't going with me to meet up with Mishima and Shiho." Touma said to his sister.

"I'm only going to Shibuya to see if i can get a job there." Twila replied as the two got off the train and went their separate ways. Touma goes up top to see Shiho and Mishima, while Twila goes to the underground mall to work at the Flower shop she saw when chasing Shiho.

In Shibuya square, Shiho and Mishima saw Touma coming up the steps and walked up to him "Looks like you made it." Shiho said.

Shiho was wearing a yellow jacket with black pantiehose covered by short jeans with brown boots.

Mishima dons a long-sleeve shirt with green sleeves and a volleyball image sits in the middle with the words "BOYS' FIGHT" encircling it. He pairs this with tan cargo pants and blue sneakers.

"Of course. I thought we agreed to meet up here at the square." Touma said as Shiho giggles a little.

"Mkay, Let's get going." She turns to Mishima "Where's the shop, Mishima?" Shiho asks.

"The shop is this way. Follow me." Mishima said as he began to lead the three to the shop but they then stopped to hear a politician giving a speech.

"Everyone, wake up! This country is twisted! While Japanese society may appear to be thriving, many young people have not been blessed as their elders. They have no jobs, no savings, no financial security whatsoever... These young people should be tackling their future head on, but instead, they're too busy merely trying to survive." The man said.

"This guy's actually saying some decent things, but not many people are stopping to listen…" Touma said to the others.

"People give speeches all the time. But to a lot of people, politics are pretty boring." Shiho commented.

"We're almost there. Just don't get lost in the crowd." Mishima advised the two as the trio made their way to Central street.

Once in Central Street, Touma looked around him and saw things that he wanted to go to but then heard Mishima's voice "Follow me. The shop can be pretty confusing to find sometimes." Mishima said as he led Shiho and Touma into a back alley and showed them the store he was talking about "This is it." Mishima said.

"It looks pretty legit." She turns to Touma "Oh yeah, now that we're here… do any of you two know any military stuff?" Shiho asks as Mishima and Touma shake their heads and enter the shop.

Inside, Shiho looked around and saw many guns and saw a weapon that appealed to her "All of this stuff in here looks so real… I don't know what I like best." Shiho said as Touma walked up to the surly manager.

"You know what you want yet? ...You lookin' for recommendations?" Touma just nods to the man "...I dunno, just buy whatever looks interestin' to you." the Surly Manager said that earned him a scowl from Shiho.

"Ugh, some customer service…" Shiho said as the man looked at them.

"Fine, whaddya want? An automatic? A revolver?" The manager asks.

"Uh, automatic…? Hey, why are you talking about cars now!?" Shiho asks.

"Listen, this here's an enthusiast shop. My regulars'll be mad if I let a casual like you hang around." The manager said as he kept on reading his magazine.

"I'm not a casual customer! I bought some things from here last week!" Mishima said but the man didn't look at him.

"Huh, can't remember you." Mishima scowls at the man but doesn't say anything "And you? Lookin' for somethin'?" The manager asks Touma.

"I'm looking for guns that look real." Touma said as the man puts his magazine down and looks at Touma.

"...Oh? You guys planning a nice big bank robbery or something?" The manager asks.

"Th-That's not it! We just like how they look, That's all!" Mishima said

"Anyways… You shoulda said before you two're enthusiasts. I'm always up for helpin' fresh faces." The Surly Manager then put the magazine down "Some precautions first though. Don't go 'Round pointing 'em at other people. Keep 'em in the bag or somethin' if you're outside. Oh, and don't let the fuzz catch wind of having 'em. I don't need them comin' around here." The manager said.

"We know that stuff already." Touma said as the Manager smirked at him.

"That right? Now if you look close, you'll be able to tell these're models. Real guns feel… different. Maybe someday i'll show you the real good stuff though… if you got the guts for it, of course." The manager then got up from his seat "...But for now, you get the beginner selection. Just sit tight, I'll bring 'em out." As the manager leaves, the trio smiles triumphantly.

"...We did it, guys. We're totally gonna get some great stuff, right? I want 'em to shine!" Shiho said, practically jumping with joy.

"Don't forget to get your sister something too." Mishima said as the manager returned with the beginners selection.

Touma chose carefully of what he wanted for his teammates and after making their purchase, they all left with four separate bags.

Sunday; Evening

Once home, Touma saw Twila finishing making dinner and setting it on the table "Welcome back! Dinner is served." Twila said as she took off the apron and placed the food down on the table.

"Damn, that looks good." Touma said as he looked at the Sushi his sister made "Also, I have a surprise for you." Touma then pulls out two big boxes and opens it to reveal a sniper and a rapier.

"It's lovely brother. With these, I'll take down even more shadows." Twila said as she put them down on the floor.

4/18
Monday; Early Morning

"Good morning. C'mon, hurry up and get to class!" Kamoshida said with his cheerful attitude but then saw Twila and Touma walking up to the school gate and then frowned "Good morning."

"H-how are you, Mr. Kamoshida?" Twila asks.

"Shit. I'm doing my best to persuade Alice about your expulsion, but no luck." Kamoshida explained as the twins made their way to their classes.

Monday; After School

On the rooftop, the four teenagers looked at each other with determination "I hope you all understand that our time limit is May 2nd." Twila said.

"We basically just have to go to that castle and steal the treasure from Alice, right?" Shiho asks.

"Yeah, that's about right, Shiho." Mishima said.

"But where is it though?" Shiho asks.

"There's no way of knowing that until we go in and find out." Twila as Touma pulls out his phone and pulls up the Meta-nav.

"Is everyone ready?" Touma asks as the group nods "Then let's go." Touma said as the group entered the metaverse once again.

Once at the front of the castle, Hunter and the twins look at Shiho and get a better look at her in her metaverse costume.

Shiho had a grey jumpsuit, covered by puffy sky blue short sleeves with the rest of her arms and her chest covered by white armor with the lower section being covered by sky blue battle skirt. She also had white boots and her hands were wearing blue gloves.

"Wow…" Hunter said under his breath.

"What?" Shiho asks.

"N-Nothing. I was just thinking about your code name." Hunter said.

"A code name?" Shiho once again asks.

"I'm Majesty, he's Hunter and my brother is Joker." Majesty explained, listing each of their code names.

"Judging from your costume… How about Rook? Like the chess piece?" Hunter suggested.

"What!? Is that what you're going to call me from now on!? I'm not okay with that!" Shiho shouted.

"Then how about Paladin?" Joker suggested.

"Of course! Paladins were known to be strong warriors." Majesty said as Shiho considered it for a moment.

"Yeah… It sounds pretty awesome. Yeah, call me Paladin from now on." Shiho said as she looked at the castle "Now, let's get moving."

"Right." Joker said as the others went towards the ventilation shaft but Joker was stopped by Justine.

"My master would like a word with you." Justine said as Joker complied and went back to the Velvet Room.

Once in the Velvet Room, Touma returned into wearing the prison uniform "The prisoner Touma Heartfila has returned." Caroline announced.

"Well done. It seems you remembered my words… You truly make it worth rehabilitating you." Igor said, causing Touma to be confused.

"What do you mean?" Touma asks as Igor chuckles.

"I am not attempting to withhold information from you. The essence of your rehabilitation that you must complete will be explained in due time. Once you encounter friends who share the same aesthetics and discover your place in reality..." Igor smiles a bit

"...Only then, will I explain it all. Such a day should not be far off. This time, i want to introduce the aid we are providing."

"What kind of aid?" Touma asks.

"Due to your potential in wielding the power of the wild card, you can handle more than one Persona. That power holds infinite possibilities. We will assist you in nurturing that potential." Touma understood what Igor was talking about but then something Igor said caught Touma off guard "...To that end, we must execute your Persona."

"What!?" Touma exclaims as Igor chuckled.

"Do not be alarmed. Personas are personalities that exist within you... Thus, you will be only discarding old personalities to have them be reborn as new ones." Igor explains as two guillotines appear in front of Touma and everyone else, along with Kaito Kuroba and Pixie.

"I am Kaito Kuroba- the other you that exists within… Though I may disappear at this moment, I shall always be at your side. We shall meet again… When your fate reaches its conclusion." Kaito Kuroba said as he gave a small and chilling laugh.

Kaito Kuroba and Pixie made their way to the guillotines, where the blades rise up and the twins wardens cover the two personas in blue tarps and chained them up, then placed them under the guillotines blades and the blades fall upon the two personas to create a brand new persona.

"I'm Agathion. I'm gonna be your new mask now! Use me, use me, use me!" Agathion said as he transformed into Touma's new mask.

"Ah, how impressive… A stronger persona was born from the body and blood of the old. It shall be your new strength." Igor said.

"What do you mean?" Touma asks as Justine turns to him.

"It's worth will be made clear when you return to the field of battle." Justine said as Igor began to speak again.

"Gather Personas and bring them here. Gather a great many, execute them, and continue to give birth to even stronger Personas. Developing your powers as such will play an integral role in the stand against ruin." Igor said.

"So that your rehabilitation goes well, we have a variety of rituals to choose in regards to executions." Justine said as Caroline turned to Touma.

"And depending on the effort you put in, our master might consider further development of new rituals. Cry your tears of joy, Inmate!" Caroline said as Touma turned his attention to Igor.

"Your heart is steadily gaining the strength of rebellion. It seems your rehabilitation is proceeding smoothly- A joyous fact, indeed… In anticipation of this, I have prepared a gift for you. I hope you shall accept it." Igor said as Touma feels his bond with Igor has deepened.

Fools Confidant: Rank 2

"Third eye?" Touma inquired as he gained this new ability by Igor.

"That is a thief's skill, allowing one to tap into their sixth sense and see what is hidden in the dark. I believe you can handle it now. May you continue devoting yourself to further rehabilitation." Igor said.

"...Now then, if you have any requests, we will heed them." Justine said as Touma nods and turns back to leave.

"Heading back already?" Caroline asks.

"Yep." Touma simply said as he returned back to the metaverse.

Once he comes back, Joker sees his sister and his teammates walk up to him "Brother, is something wrong? You were just standing there all of a sudden." Majesty said.

To my teammates, it looked like I wasn't moving… Touma thought.

"Why are you spacing out like that? ...It's kinda hard to tell what you're thinking sometimes." Hunter said.

"Let's just say i'm a man of high caliber." Joker said proudly.

"Riiight… Like when you loudly tried to take a cookie from the cookie jar when we were little." Majesty said with a playful smirk.

"Sis!" Joker yelled.

"I'm kidding. We're all counting on you Joker." Majesty said as Hunter turned to the twins.

"So where do we start?" Hunter asks as Majesty looks at him.

"Let's head to the Safe Room we found last time. It's on the first floor of the west building." Majesty said.

"Sounds like a plan." Joker said as the group made their way to the safe room.

After they all made it to the safe room, they all proceeded to infiltrate the rest of the castle in which they found a room with a gated area the group couldn't enter "Look! There's something in there." Hunter said as he pointed to what he saw.

"But the bars are blocking our way…" Paladin said

"If she's protecting it this securely, it has to be important." Majesty said as Touma uses his third eye to lead him to a hidden lever that lifted the bar gates that allowed them to gain a map of the later areas of the Palace.

Once they made it to the east building annex, The group pressed on and stumbled upon a church like area with a large statue of Mr. Kamoshida "This place is huge…" Paladin said in awe.

"Yet there are no guards? This seems suspicious…" Majesty pointed out.

"But the treasure is up ahead, right? We don't have a choice but to keep going." Hunter said.

"That's true… but we need to be sure we're ready for whatever might be ahead." Majesty then turns to her brother "What do you think brother? Should we continue onward?" Majesty asks.

"Yeah." Joker said as the group entered the church and saw it distorted into the school gym for a moment before returning to normal.

"Wait, was that… The gym…?" Paladin said in shock.

"I get it… The gym's some kind of holy place for her to worship Mr. Kamoshida. He's a god to her there." Hunter said in disgust.

"I can't believe she can think that… especially after what she made him do to Ann…" Paladin almost gagged in disgust.

"God, that bitch makes me so sick! Just you wait, Alice…!" Majesty said as an enemy appeared.

"I see… So you're the ones who tampered with the library. It seems my time waiting here has paid off..." The gold knight said as he appeared before the group "Just as that maiden said, this is a holy ground for the great King Kamoshida." The golden Knight said as he transformed into the same armored angel from last time.

"Yeah… Well, we don't give a damn." Joker said as he pulled out his pistol and began to shoot at the Angel and the team quickly did an All-out Attack to deal with the shadow quickly.

After dealing with the Shadow, the group continued their way into the palace and Joker was able to get his hands on new Personas such as Succubus, Berith, Andras and Silky.

He used his new Personas to take down new Shadows and the group made their way to a hallway with an open window that led straight into the throne room and the group snuck inside, hiding behind the gold railing on the second floor "Ok! We're in!" Majesty then covered Hunter's mouth, looking annoyed.

"How many times must i tell you to quiet down!?" Majesty whisperly said as she pointed to Shadow Alice and the guards that were in front of her.

"We must have pissed her off something fierce if she has that many guards around her." Joker said as the group listened in to what they were all talking about.

"How have you not captured the intruders yet!?" Shadow Alice shouted.

"I apologies, my liege!" The guards said at the same time.

"I bet she'd never imagine we're in the same room as her. Come on, let's keep going…" Joker said as they sneak behind Alice's throne, conveniently not getting caught by the guards, and went into the treasure room.

In the treasure room, the group looked at the inside in awe as the place was filled with gold and jewels "Wow, look at this place! It's amazing!" Paladin said as Hunter agreed with her.

"Yeah. But where's the treasure?" Hunter asks as Joker points a hazy orb above the mountain of gold.

"It's right there. We found it." Joker said as the others looked at him in disbelief.

"Wait, that's the treasure!?" Paladin asks.

"Hold on. I was going to explain more once we got to this point. Finding the treasure isn't enough. We have to make it materialized in order to steal it." Joker said as the other two looked at Majesty.

"Did you know about this, Majesty?" Hunter asks as Majesty looks away and blushes.

"No… I forgot that desires have no physical form by nature…" Majesty then looks at her brother, still embarrassed that she forgot an important detail.

"That's right. Hence, we have to make the real person aware that their desires are in fact a treasure. Once they're conscious that their desires might be stolen, the treasure will materialize right here in this room." Joker explained in further detail.

"But how do we do that?" Paladin asks.

"We warn them. Tell them, "we're going to steal your heart"." Joker said.

"So we're going to send her a calling card!? That's definitely what a phantom thief would do!" Hunter said, sounding really excited.

"Once we do that, the treasure will appear for certain! ...I think." Majesty said as she tried to put on a prideful smile.

"Sis, I know this stuff much better than you. So please don't say that you know this stuff." Joker said as Majesty's prideful smile fades and is replaced with a frown.

"Either way, it sounds like it's worth a shot." Hunter said.

"Yep. Our infiltration route is complete. All we need to do now is send that calling card out in reality, then come back to take the treasure." Joker said as Paladin showed a face of determination.

"So this is it." Paladin said under her breath.

"We won't lose." Majesty said to the group.

"Yeah. It took a while, but it was worth it in the end." Hunter said as Joker nods in agreement.

"Once we send out the calling card, there's no turning back." Joker said.

"Then we'll let you make the call when it's time to send the calling card. Just let us know, and we'll meet up at the hideout so we can send out that calling card." Majesty said as Joker nods in agreement.

"Okay, let's head out and send out that calling card!" Joker said as they use their quick travel ability and return back to the front of the castle but before they all return to the real world, Joker went back to the Velvet room.

"What do you want, Inmate?" Caroline asks.

"I came here to fuse new Personas." Touma said as they brought the guillotines and the Personas Touma had decided to get rid of, namely Silky and Berith and the two soon fused together into a new Persona. A snowman with a blue jester like hat.

"I'm Jack Frost, ho! I know I'm just a mask, but take good care of me-hee, ho!" Jack Frost said as he turned into a mask for Touma.

Once done in the Velvet Room, the group went back to the real world and went their separate ways and the twins were walking back home.

Monday: Evening

Touma and Twila were eating at the dinner table but eating slowly because after they returned from the palace, they all became exhausted both physically and mentally, but they all have the strength to continue to do some things like eating or texting. Which happens when the twins are eating.

MY: Are you all back home yet? I'm tired… It hit me like a ton of bricks the moment I sat down.

SS: Well, I guess we did walk pretty far in. I'm glad we found that treasure thing though.

MY: So Alice will turn into a good guy if we steal that, huh…

TH: You guys aren't having second thoughts?

MY: No. My mind's made up.

TwH: Good. Remember, sending the calling card is my brother's decision.

SS: Right. Call us over to the hideout when you're ready, Touma.

TH: Got it. Great work today, guys.

The twins put their phones away and continued eating their dinner.

4/19
Tuesday; morning

In Touma's classroom, Touma heard his phone vibrate to see it was Shiho texting him.

SS: Hey, Touma. I still feel a little tired from all that hard work. How about you?

TH: I'm feeling alright. So what's up?

SS: Well, we found the Treasure, so all that's left is to send the calling card. We have some time left before the board meeting though. Should we send the calling card?

TH: Yeah. I'll let Mishma and my sister know later.

SS: Good. I can't sit back and do nothing after what happened to Ann. And I won't let you guys get expelled either. Alice won't get away with this…! We'll talk more in detail after school.

TH: Got it.

Touma puts his phone away and continues to listen to the lecture his teacher was giving.

Tuesday; After School

At the hideout, Touma and the group met up and began talking about the calling card "All right! All that's left is to send out the calling card and take Alice's heart!" Touma said as Mishima looked at him with some confusion.

"Couldn't we have just sent one at the beginning of all of this…?" Mishima asks as Twila turns to him.

"It's not that simple. A Treasure won't stay materialized forever. Once the impression is gone, the Treasure will disappear. I think it'll last around a day, at most." Mishima sighed in disappointment but regained his composure.

"Okay, we can send a calling card right now, right? Let's do it and steal that bitch's heart!" Mishima said with a burning passion.

"Yeah, Let's send that bitch a calling card!" Touma declared.

"I've been waiting to hear you say that!" Mishima said as he looked at his teammates "Tomorrow's finally the day."

"So we send the calling card in the morning… and carry out the plan by the end of the day, right?" Shiho asks for confirmation.

"Correct. The effect won't last that long. Are you worried?" Twila asks as Shiho sighes.

"Heh. Waited too long." Shiho said.

"Perfect." Twila smiled.

"We're going to pull this off, no matter what!" Shiho said with a look of determination.

"Who's going to write the calling card?" Twila asks as Touma smiles.

"Me! And the person who will be helping will be Mishima!" Touma declared in excitement with Mishima's eyes popping out.

"What!?"

"Yup! Just leave it to us!" Touma said as Mishima looked to the ground with a defeated look on his face.

"Brother, are you sure you can handle it? This is an important task." Twila asks.

"Don't worry. I got this. I want to write down what i really think of that girl! And I want Mishima to help me draw a logo for us." Mishima sighed in defeat but smiled a little.

"Yeah, don't you worry, Shiho. We'll make sure not to mess this up for us." Mishima said as Twila and Shiho sigh in relief.

Tuesday; Evening

Twila was looking at her clock in her bedroom and saw that her brother wasn't coming back for a while "Well, i guess it's not so bad. I should have a little faith that those boys are working on the calling card." Twila said to herself when she got a text from Shiho.

SS: I hope your brother knows what he's doing…

TwH: I hope so too. But we at least have to give him and Mishima the benefit of a doubt.

SS: Yeah, you're right. Well, here's hoping we succeed tomorrow.

TwH: Same. Good night, Shiho-san.

SS: Night, Twi-chan!

Twila plugged in her phone and smiled "I know it will go well." Twila said as she turned off the lights and went to bed. She knew that she was going to need her strength for tomorrow.