Music:
~Will Power~
(Persona 5)
Angel didn't know what was going on anymore.
Stitch, who had been moments away from being struck down by the strange enemies they had been surrounded by, had suddenly manifested a strange, demonic being wreathed in blue flames.
The figure stood to its full height once more, raising a clawed hand to its face.
"I am the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès!" The figure declared, the inferno returning in full force around it.
"S-Stitch…?" Angel asked. Stitch finally dropped his grin and gave Angel a look of reassurance. He then looked over at the figure, now apparently named 'Dantès'.
"I am the soul of rebellion and justice that dwells within you. If you so desire, perhaps I shall consider granting you the power to emerge victorious in this conflict," Dantès said, his tone even, yet cold.
Stitch narrowed his eyes.
"That sounds fine by me," He grunted. "I'll take all the power you can give me."
"Quite direct, I see. Hmph, very well," Dantès scoffed.
Stitch grinned, before turning around. The creatures had gotten back to their feet and were bearing down on him and Angel.
As if it were second nature, Stitch threw down his arms. A pair of daggers flipped out of his sleeves and landed perfectly in his gloved hands. He gave one of them a twirl so that he could hold it backhanded and lowered slightly into a combat stance.
Dantès took his place behind Stitch, the blue flames flaring around him.
"Despise the opponents who dare to stand before you. Allow that hatred to permeate your entire being. Make that animosity into your power, and release it upon them!"
Stitch most certainly did hate the creatures standing in front of him. The bastards had tried to kill both Angel AND him, after all.
He felt a new power welling up within him. Replacing one of his daggers and lifting one of his hands experimentally, he threw his arm out. Dantès mirrored the motion, and a surge of dark energy consumed the nearest creature.
"Damn you-!" It screeched as its body disintegrated. As the rest of the creatures reeled in surprise, Angel's eyes went wide.
"Darkness magic…!?" She gasped. But… how was that possible!? Stitch didn't… he shouldn't have…!
Getting over its shock, another creature charged him, its claws outstretched.
"Swing your blade!" Dantès demanded. Stitch complied, ducking to avoid the blow before swinging his other dagger at the creature. The ensuing strike sliced it nearly in half, causing it to give a dying scream as it disintegrated in a haze of darkness.
"Who's next!?" Stitch demanded, grinning maniacally at the creatures, flicking his wrist to retrieve his second dagger. It landed in his hand and he twirled it menacingly. The monsters hesitated, having seen the experiment make short work of two of their compatriots.
Angel pulled herself to her feet, eyeing Stitch cautiously. This… being, "Dantès", seemed to inspire a greater confidence in Stitch (not that this was a bad thing, mind, she thought it was kinda hot to be honest) but its utterly demonic appearance, to say nothing of its seeming ability to use Darkness magic, which she damn well knew Stitch couldn't use, were screaming at her to be cautious.
"This power of mine is yours!" Dantès declared, sounding pleased. "Kill them however you wish. Let your inner demon run wild to its heart's content!"
Dantès dispersed into a haze of flame that wrapped itself around Stitch's face. Swiftly, the flames began to take shape and darken, forming into the black mask he had so bloodily torn off mere minutes before.
Grinning and seemingly paying the mask no mind, Stitch charged forward, readying the knife he was holding backhanded. Catching the first of the remaining eight creatures by surprise, he swung his blade, cleaving the monster's arm off. Before it could react, he then kicked it in the side, sending it into one of its compatriots, causing them both to disperse as they hit the stands nearby.
Using his momentum, he then threw his other dagger, landing it perfectly in the forehead of another creature. Faster than the eye could see, he was on the creature. He grabbed the handle and, with a sudden jerk, twisted it, gouging large hole in the monster's skull. It evaporated instantly.
Finally pulling themselves out of their shocked and perhaps terrified stupor, the remaining monsters charged him, claws extended. Stitch used the retrieved dagger to parry its claws, using its own momentum to send it flying forward. He then somersaulted to avoid another, an infuriatingly defiant smirk plastering his face. A third charge saw him leap into the air to avoid it. In mid-air, he grabbed the heads of the next two, and slammed them together, leaving both of them dazed and stumbling around.
He made a three-point landing before quickly getting up and turning around. He saw the three creatures that still had their wits about them turn around, clearly intent on rushing again.
They wouldn't get that chance.
Stitch once more felt power welling up within him. A single word formed on his tongue.
"Persona!"
In a burst of blue flames, his mask dispersed, and Dantès reappeared, floating behind him.
"Ravage them!" Stitch ordered. Dantès complied, sweeping out his arm. A wave of dark energy exploded around the five creatures, eliciting screams as they were consumed and disintegrated in the blast.
Dantès disappeared once more, disappearing into Stitch's mask as the blue experiment stood up, looking in the direction that the creatures had been. Coming down from his adrenaline high, he started to process what had just happened.
'That… wow.'
And then the exhaustion hit.
Suddenly, every muscle in Stitch's body cried out as he suddenly dropped to his knees, panting heavily.
"Stitch!" Angel shouted, rushing over to him. She grabbed his shoulder. "Are you okay!?"
"Tired, mostly…" Stitch said in between pants. He slowly and shakily managed to get back up to his feet, ignoring his screaming muscles in the process. No sooner had he done so, Angel suddenly tackled him in a bearhug.
"Wha-!?"
"You big dummy!" Angel yelled/cried, pounding on his chest. "I told you to stop being so reckless!"
"Calm down, Angie," Stitch responded gently, stroking her hair, before gently pulling away and holding his arms out. "Look, as you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
Angel took a step back took a minute to collect herself. She took a second to look him over, and responded, "And in weird clothing."
"Huh!?" It was then that Stitch finally noticed the outfit he was now wearing, and he starting checking himself out frantically. "When did I put this on!?"
"Right around the time you summoned that... thing," Angel replied. "L-Look, I think we've done enough for today. We should-"
It was right around then that a massive puddle of black ooze splattered on the ground behind them. Stitch and Angel could only watch in horror as that puddle divided into a swarm of the black, noodle like monstrosities that had nearly killed them both earlier.
"Time to go!" Stitch shouted, grabbing Angel's arm and racing for the door without waiting for a reply.
The monsters got ready to give chase when a voice suddenly reverberated through all of their minds.
Stop. Let them go.
Freezing up, the monsters simply stared at the door Stitch and Angel had run out of. Then, their bodies melted into a massive black puddle that then dissipated into nothingness.
...
A figure, cloaked in shadow, had been watching the commotion from the bleachers, unseen by the two intruders from before.
Turning to leave, the figure looked back at the door, and muttered to themselves.
"So, let the experiment begin."
The two experiments burst through the door, with Stitch slamming it shut behind them.
"THAT was too close!" He breathed, leaning against the door. He was waiting to see if they had followed the pair. He didn't dare peak inside, however, for fear that they were waiting on the other side.
Waiting for them to make that critical mistake and swarm them.
Stitch shuddered at the thought.
No. No way in hell he was gonna do that.
"Like I was saying..." Angel panted. "We need to get out of here. I think we've done enough for today."
"Agreed," Stitch agreed with a sigh. "We should regroup and tell Jumba what we've-"
He froze. He could hear knocking of some kind, and it was close.
"Stitch, what is that?" Angel asked, sounding nervous. Stitch placed his finger to his mouth to quietly shush her. Listening closer, he could hear... someone talking?
"Hey! Someone there? HEEEY!"
"I think there's someone else here..." Stitch said, sounding unsure. It was then that he remembered that the hallway had split into two paths. What did that other path lead to?
"C'mon," He said, turning and walking back.
"Huh? Wait, don't tell me you want to find out who's there! What if it's one of those creatures!?" Angel demanded. Stitch didn't respond. He was already at the fork in the path, and was already going down the other hall. Heaving a heavy sigh, Angel ran after him.
As Stitch reached the end of the hall, he froze. He was expecting this other person to be a lot of things. A monster? A grizzled badass? A grizzled badass monster?
A boy, roughly Lilo's age, was not one of them.
A boy, with the absolute worst case of bedhead he'd ever seen, wearing a black and red outfit, complete with a visor that obscured Stitch's view of his upper face, was knocking at the door. The boy seemed to perk up when he saw Stitch.
"Hey, you!" The boy shouted. "Yeah, you! Fellow thief!"
"Thief? Me?" Stitch asked, a question mark appearing next to his head. The boy groaned and hung his head in misery.
"Oh, great. An amateur. I may as well roll over and die, then..."
Stitch raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I'm sorry I got dragged into this when I was trying to figure out what's going on with reality," Stitch 'apologized' sarcastically. The boy looked up.
"Oh, so you noticed too, huh?" He asked, before grunting. "Tch. Figures. If you have the ability to enter Palaces like this one, I'd expect nothing less."
Stitch blinked. "Palaces?" He asked. The boy groaned again.
"You really are an amateur, aren't you?" He shook his head. Stitch was about to respond when Angel made her way to the door.
"Stitch, what do I keep saying about-" She paused when she noticed the boy standing behind the door. "Um… who are you?"
"My name is of no importance," The boy said, plainly. The two experiments gave him an odd look. It was hard to tell, but it looked like the boy was rolling his eyes.
"Fine. If you want to call me something, call me 'Sonata'," He said. Stitch and Angel looked at each other.
"Sonata?" They asked in unison.
"Of course," 'Sonata' replied. "It's not my real name. It's a codename. What kind of Phantom Thief uses their real name on the job?"
…Huh. Fair enough. Wait, 'Phantom Thief?'
"Phantom Thief?" Angel asked, tilting her head.
"Ugh! Look!" Sonata sounded exasperated and he threw his hands into the air. "It seems like we have the same goal; to figure out how this place relates to what's going on in the outside world, right?"
Angel and Stitch nodded.
"And you two have absolutely no idea what you're doing, right?" Sonata continued.
Stitch and Angel both gave him a sheepish look.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now, as you should be able to tell, I'm trapped behind here. I got deeper inside the Palace than here, but to go back means facing an army of Shadows-"
"Shadows?" Stitch asked.
"The monsters that roam around here. If you're wearing an outfit like that, you've probably seen a few," Sonata growled in irritation at being interrupted. Stitch thought back to the abominations he and Angel just faced.
Shadows, huh? Given their inky black bodies and distorted voices, the name fit.
"Now, let me finish," Sonata began again. "Going back the way I came would leave me fighting an army of the bastards, and I don't really have the energy to fight that many again. This door seems to open on your side. Open the door, and I'll tell you everything you need to know about this place. Sound like a deal?"
Stitch and Angel looked at each other for a few seconds, before talking in Tantalog.
"Should we?" Angel asked. Stitch looked thoughtful.
"We don't really know much about this place," Stitch admitted. "Even if we don't really trust him, I think he's our best option."
"True…" Angel sighed, before turning to Sonata.
"Alright," She said. "We accept your deal."
"Very well, then," Sonata grinned, before frowning. "Like I said, the door doesn't open from this side; interface for it's on your side."
He pointed at something on the wall next to him. Following his finger, Stitch and Angel both noticed a card reader on the wall besides them, right in front of the door. Stitch also noticed a keypad on the card reader.
"You'll need a key card of some kind to open it," Sonata explained, before adding. "Or a passcode. Either or."
"A key card or a password. Right. And how're we supposed to get that?" Angel asked, frowning. Sonata smirked.
"How else? Pinch 'em off of one of the Shadows!"
Stitch thought about that for a moment, before grinning at the image of him sneaking up behind one of the wiry freaks, nabbing the card from its pocket…
Wait, did those things even HAVE pockets?
As he pondered over those little details, Angel crossed her arms.
"Isn't that stealing?" She asked. Sonata raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. We're stealing. That's what Phantom Thieves do. You can keep runnin' around like a chicken with its head cut off if you don't like it," He spat. Angel cringed. She REALLY didn't like how this kid acted. Still…
"Fine, fine," Stitch got between them. "Steal a key card off of one of the freaks, open the door for you, and then you tell us everything you know. Sound about right?"
"Yep. I'll wait here," Sonata nodded, before leaning against the wall, crossing his arms. The two experiments sweatdropped.
"You COULD tell us where we can find the Shadows," Angel remarked. Sonata looked back up at them.
"Try the entrance hall," Sonata said, waving his hand at them dismissively. "Shadows occasionally stop there to talk to each other about stupid crap."
Armed with that little bit of intel, and frowning at how nonchalant the boy seemed to be, Stitch and Angel both turned around to start back towards the entrance. As they did, Sonata looked up and watched them leave.
'Seems he's only just awakened to his power, and yet he's still walking around like nothing's happened,' He thought. 'I must admit… that's highly impressive. I may have found someone with great potential.'
"Remind me how we got ourselves into this mess again."
Stitch said nothing at Angel's words, instead choosing to roll his eyes in response. He and Angel were now hiding behind the display boards of the first room, sitting in wait for the 'Shadows' to come by, as Sonata said they would.
They'd been there a while, so they had started making small talk to pass the time.
"We just gotta wait," Stitch responded, narrowing his eyes. "Someone's gonna come walking in sooner or later."
"Stitch, we've been here for thirty minutes. I doubt that-" Angel clammed up when she heard the sound of a door sliding open. Both of them quickly ducked out of sight as a pair of Shadows wearing security uniforms walked into the room.
"Have you found the intruders?"One of them asked. The other grunted.
"Not yet. Reports indicate that there are only three. It is likely that they are in hiding." The first one looked strangely at the other.
"If that is the case, we should change the password, as to not allow them access to the rest of the facilities."
"No need to worry,"The second Shadow assured. "I have already changed the passcodes for the doors."
Stitch and Angel both held their breath. Were these two about to…?
"Is that so? What have you changed it to?" The first Shadow asked.
"'Hello.'"
"…What?" It was hard to tell, but the first Shadow seemed to just stare blankly at the second, so it quickly elaborated.
"'Hello'; if you flip it upside down, it reads 01134."
Stitch and Angel both stared at the Shadow.
"R-Really?" Stitch whispered. "Hello? Really?"
That sentiment was shared by the first Shadow, who simply stared blankly at the second.
"That… is rather childish," It said blankly.
"It doesn't matter so long as the intruders don't find out," The second responded, sounding slightly irritated. "We should return to our posts. Make sure those foolish intruders do not reach the depths."
"Yes," The first agreed. "Glory to our mistress!"
"Glory to our mistress!" The second mirrored the first.
With that, the two of them went their separate ways, disappearing down the corridors. As they disappeared, Stitch and Angel emerged from their hiding spots and looked at each other.
"Really? The oldest secret message in the book? Really?" Angel asked, sounding utterly unimpressed.
"Maybe he was hoping no one would think of it?" Stitch suggested, shrugging. "I dunno. Either way, we've got the passcode, so let's head back to Sonata and free 'em so we can figure out what's going on and get out of here."
"Yes, please. Especially that last part," Angel said, nodding.
A few minutes later, Stitch and Angel were back at the door at the end of the corridor. Sonata was still leaning against the wall, breathing quietly and rhythmically. It was, again, hard to tell, but it seemed that he had fallen asleep at some point.
"01134, right?" Angel asked as Stitch walked up to the keypad.
"Yeah," Stitch nodded, before punching it in.
The small device beeped, and a display above the door lit up.
PROCESSING…
For a moment, nothing happened. Then it beeped again, this time flashing a green light.
ACCESS GRANTED.
The door hissed, before sliding up. This seemed to get Sonata's attention, as he pulled himself off the wall and looked over at them.
"Took you two long enough," He said, crossing his arms and stepping past the doorway.
"Oh, sorry that we had to wait a while before any Shadows came walking by," Angel responded, raising an eyebrow.
"We've kept our end of the bargain. Now it's time for you to keep yours," Stitch said. Sonata looked up at the two, and nodded.
"Right. Before we do, however, we should get to somewhere more private, so that we aren't surprised and ambushed by Shadows," Sonata said, before motioning them to follow him.
Confused, the two experiments did as the boy lead them back into the entrance hall, and through the door that lead to the stairway and the large door from earlier. As they reached the top of the stairway, Sonata took a hard left, leading them to another door that they hadn't noticed earlier.
"What's wrong with this door?" Angel asked, looking confused.
It was shimmering, almost transparent, in fact, and its outer-edges were rippling. Sonata turned to face them.
"This is a room created from a gap in the Ruler's cognition," He said. "It's what we call a Safe Room. Basically, this room doesn't exist to Shadows, so they can't get in."
"Oh, okay," Stitch said, nodding his head. So, a Safe Room. Got it.
Angel, however, looked even more confused.
"'A gap in the Ruler's cognition?' What does that mean?"
Sonata sighed.
"I'll explain in a minute. Let's just get inside the stupid room," He urged, opening the door and beckoning them to enter. Stitch and Angel did so, and found that it was a reasonably large room, with a large table in the center. Bits and pieces of equipment were strewn about, primarily on large shelves that covered the walls, making it appear that it was a janitor's closet of some sort.
However, as they stepped inside, the room suddenly flickered and warped. For a brief moment, its visage changed to resemble a hotel room, before reverting back.
Stitch and Angel blinked.
"Is this… a hotel room?" Stitch asked, turning to Sonata, who entered the room himself and closed the door behind them.
"From what we've seen, yes. This is a place where the Ruler doesn't see themselves as having much power, so it's probably an occupied hotel room," Sonata nodded. Angel placed her hands on her hips.
"Okay, start explaining. What is this place, what's going on, and what do you mean by 'Ruler'?" She asked impatiently. Sonata placed his finger to his chin.
"Ah, the basics. I'm going to assume that neither of you have a background in cognitive psience, so I'll keep the terminology simple."
Looking at the two to make sure they were following along, he started.
"This is a place where a person's distorted desires have been made manifest. We call such a place a 'Palace'."
"A Palace, huh?" Stitch repeated the term, committing it to memory. Sonata nodded.
"That's correct. It's basically part of an alternate reality as interpreted through a warped person's eyes," He added.
"A warped person? Is that what you mean by the 'Ruler'?" Angel asked. Sonata turned to her.
"That's correct. The Palace Ruler is the person whose heart gave rise to the place," He said.
"Wait, an alternate reality?" Stitch asked.
"We call it the Metaverse," Sonata explained. "It's basically an illusory alternate reality created by the thoughts of people."
"Okay, so it's an alternate reality created from people's minds. Gotcha. But why can we see it from our world?" Angel asked.
"To be honest? I dunno," Sonata admitted. "It's the first time I've ever encountered a Palace that was visible in reality. And I've found a few here and there in the past day, and this is the ONLY one visible."
"So, that means our theory that this place is connected to what's going on in our reality was probably right…" Angel mused, before turning to Sonata. "So, what do we do about this? I mean, is there any way to stop the Palace Ruler?"
"Yes, actually," Sonata nodded. "Although this Palace does appear to be a special case, it seems it still follows the basic rules that all Palaces tend to follow. And one of them is this: deep within every Palace lies a 'core'. We refer to it as the Palace's 'Treasure'. It's symbolic of the Palace Ruler's warped desires, as well as whatever it was that caused them to become so warped."
"I get it! The 'Treasure' is the source of the Palace, right? It's sustaining it. So, if we remove it, the Palace will disappear?" Stitch asked, sounding excited. It seemed like this mess could be dealt with after all!
Sonata nodded.
"Correct. There's a few steps to doing so, however," He clarified. Stitch and Angel motioned him to continue, so he did.
"First, we need to establish an infiltration route. Basically, we need to find where the Treasure is in the first place. However, once we reach it, we can't just take it," Sonata started. A question mark appeared next to Stitch and Angel's heads.
"Why not?" Angel asked.
"Desires aren't tangible by nature. They tend to appear as shimmering, hazy clouds," Sonata shrugged. "So, we have to MAKE them tangible."
"And how do we do that?" Stitch asked. Sonata grinned.
"We warn the Palace Ruler. We send them a calling card, telling them that their desires are a Treasure and can be stolen. Once they realize that their desires are, in fact, a treasure, it'll materialize and become stealable."
"Wait, so we send out a calling card!?" Stitch asked, sounding excited. "That's like what the Phantom Thieves did!"
Angel's eyes went wide.
"The… Phantom Thieves…?" She whispered.
About two years ago, a group had appeared in Japan, calling themselves the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts'. For about a year, they had targeted those in positions of authority, up to and including a man in the running for prime minister. And with only one failure, whom they claimed was the fault of the last target the people they target would suffer a sudden 'change of heart'. The changed person would confess to their wrongdoings, and turn themselves in.
Honestly, Angel hadn't followed them much, but Lilo. Ate. That. UP.
She had a HUGE poster of the Phantom Thieves' logo hanging up in her and Stitch's room, to start with…
Sonata grinned.
"This is exactly what they did when they were active," He said. "Now, before I continue, I'd like to ask you. In order to take back the reality that the Palace Ruler has stolen from us, are you willing to take up the mantle of the Phantom Thieves?"
"Ye-!" Stitch started, before Angel interrupted him.
"Give us a little time to think," She said quickly. "It'd be a bad idea to rush into this kind of thing too quickly. Right, Stitchie?"
She tried to sound sweet when she said that, but both Sonata and Stitch sweatdropped.
"Er, right," Stitch rubbed the back of his head. Sonata coughed.
"Anyways, since you were able to enter this Palace, I'm assuming you have the Metaverse Navigator, right?" Sonata asked. Both Stitch and Angel looked confused.
"The what?" Angel asked. Stitch's eyes went wide.
"Wait, you mean that weird app that just appeared on my phone? Red eyeball icon, kept downloading itself after I deleted it, that one?"
Sonata nodded, before pulling out his own phone and showing it to them.
Sure enough, the interface was the same one Stitch had toyed with prior them entering the Palace. And just like the app on Stitch's phone, the 'Name' and 'Distortion' portions of the entry were being censored somehow.
"Is that normal, by the way?" Angel asked, eliciting a confused look from Sonata.
"Is what normal?"
"The entry being censored like that."
Sonata shook his head.
"No. It should be displaying the Ruler's name and what form the Palace takes. I think the Palace Ruler might be doing something to the app, but I can't say for certain," Sonata grunted.
Stitch and Angel looked at each other.
"How do you think she might be doing that?" Stitch asked. Sonata opened his mouth to respond, before he gave them a puzzled look.
"'She?'" He asked.
"Oh!" Angel hit her palm with the side of her fist. "I forgot about that! Some of the Shadows said something about their 'mistress'. I was wondering about that earlier."
"Ah, I see. So the Palace Ruler is a female, then. Real helpful tidbit there. That only leaves about half the people on the island," Sonata sighed. "And to answer your question… Beats me. All I can say for sure is that the Ruler knows we're after her, and knows how we're doing it. Why she hasn't taken steps to stop us, past the usual Shadows is beyond me."
Stitch scowled. As much useful information as Sonata had given them, it seems that there were some unknowns regarding this particular Palace.
"I can't say for sure what the Ruler's temperament is, or even what their end goal is, but whatever it is, she seems to be warping the very fabric of reality itself to do it," Sonata crossed his arms.
"Warping the fabric of reality…?" Stitch and Angel both looked at each other in shock.
"You've seen it too, right? Dead people suddenly coming back from the dead, things happening that shouldn't be possible?" Sonata pointed out.
Stitch bristled. Seeing Lilo's parents alive and well was jarring, and seeing Slang without her hood and with her child was even more so.
Also, Stella and Virgil dating. That shouldn't be a thing yet. He wanted it to be, but it wasn't.
"How did you-?" Angel asked, only for Sonata to interrupt.
"You think you're the only ones who've seen strange abnormalities such as this? The point I'm trying to make is that whatever's going on is most likely being achieved because the Palace Ruler is somehow distorting the fabric of reality."
"So we're up against a reality warper…" Stitch muttered. He'd only read about this stuff in fiction, and the closest he'd ever seen to it was the sheer insanity experiments like Aurora, Stella, or Liz could pull off.
This was NOT going to be easy.
"I share your sentiments," Sonata seemed to know what Stitch was thinking. "We're going to need more manpower than three Persona users and someone who can't use one yet."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Angel chimed in, prompting both to look at her. "Stitchie here summoned this demonic… thing that let him use Darkness magic, and it also changed his clothes. Can you explain that?"
"Yeah, I have no idea how I did that…" Stitch sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Ah, the power of Persona. Of course," Sonata nodded. "In essence, your Persona is, well, it's 'you'. It's a mask one wears when facing worldly matters. In truth, Personas and Shadows are one and the same."
Stitch and Angel blinked.
"Wait, so you're saying that Dantès, er, my Persona, is one of those Shadows?" Stitch asked, tilting his head.
"Essentially, yes. Through a powerful will of rebellion, you have managed to enter into a contract with your Shadow, enabling you to use its power as you see fit," Sonata explained. "Your outfit changed for the same reason. When in Palaces, if the Palace Ruler sees you as a threat, your desire to rebel manifests as a change in your outfit."
"Meaning…" Angel started.
"Your outfit is based on what you think of when you picture a heroic rebel," Sonata concluded. "Also, your mask is your Persona when you aren't using it. 'Persona' happens to be Latin for 'mask', by the way."
Angel stopped to think. That would explain why Dantès seemed to emerge when Stitch tore that mask off of his face, and why that mask returned when he dematerialized.
Wait…
"Stitchie, is THAT what you think of when you think of a thief?" Angel asked, staring at Stitch's outfit. Stitch looked himself over.
"Guess so. Why? You jealous?" Stitch asked with a teasing grin.
"Uh, no. It looks silly," Angel crossed her arms with a huff, looking away as she did so.
"You suck at lying, Angel," Stitch kept grinning. "Admit it, you like it."
"Ugh, get a room, you two," Sonata groaned, sounding like he was rolling his eyes.
Stitch and Angel both blushed in response before looking away from each other.
"A-Anyway," Stitch changed the subject. "I noticed that you said we had three Persona users. What did you mean by that?"
"You, me, and my partner," Sonata said, plainly.
Looking at Sonata's outfit and mask, yeah, that made sense, but, wait...
"Your partner?" Stitch asked.
"Yeah, my partner, Prowler," Sonata nodded, before scowling. "That cowardly bunch of stripy orange flea-bait got cold feet and refused to enter the Palace with me. If I had that nincompoop with me, we probably could have fought our way through those Shadows when we came to that locked door."
"…I see," Stitch said, wondering what exactly Sonata meant when he said, 'stripy orange flea-bait'.
"Anything else you wanted to know?" Sonata asked.
"Um…" Angel paused. "Anything, Stitchie?"
"Not really, other than maybe setting up a plan for later," Stitch responded.
"Oh?" Sonata leaned forward a bit. "Planning on coming back here, later?"
"We have to know what's going on," Stitch responded, frowning. "This place is our best lead, right? Maybe we should come back here tomorrow and see what else is down that path you were on."
"Hm…" Sonata paused. "…Very well. For the time being, I'll accept your offer. Let's meet back here noon tomorrow. Sound good to you?"
Angel looked over at Stitch with concern.
"We're really doin' this, huh?" She asked, softly. Stitch nodded.
"Yeah," He then turned to Sonata. "So, how do we get out of here?"
"Right. Another important thing to know about Palaces. To leave, just go in the direction from where you came with the Nav open," Sonata said, shrugging. "I'll show you the way out."
Shortly thereafter, the trio was back in the entrance hall.
"So just go down the elevator, up the ramp, and activate the Metaverse Navigator?" Stitch asked they walked down the stairwell. Sonata nodded.
"Basically, yes. I'll show you how once we get there."
"And what about you?" Angel asked.
"Me? I'm gonna stick around a little longer. I wanted to do some recon and see if I could get any of the Shadows to slip and say the Ruler's name," Sonata shrugged. "I doubt I'll be successful, but you never know until you try."
"We do need info…" Stitch nodded. "We know the Ruler's a girl, and where the Palace's location."
"…Meaning we know jack shit," Sonata sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. Suddenly, he froze.
"Hm?" Angel noticed that Sonata had stopped. "What's the matter? Did you-?"
"MOVE!" Sonata yelled, suddenly lunging forward and shoving both experiments down the stairs.
"WHAT THE-!?" Stitch yelled, just as a massive, bulky creature suddenly dropped from the ceiling, exactly where they had been before.
"Another Shadow!?" Angel half-yelled, clambering to her feet.
"Intruders…" This Shadow spoke with a similarly distorted voice to the others, only much, MUCH deeper. "You have committed the sin of rejecting our most benevolent master's kindness."
"Yeah, is that right?" Sonata got back up, scowling at the Shadow. He held out his hand, and a black sword materialized in his grip.
"We've already made up our minds," Stitch growled, pulling out the two daggers from earlier. "We don't just reject this reality; we're getting rid of it."
"Yeah!" Angel chimed in, lowering into a combat stance. "We never asked for this!"
"…How tragic. It seems you are blind to even your own desires…" The Shadow shook its head. "Then I will have to educate you through force!"
The Shadow's body convulsed violently, before its mask broke apart and it melted into a puddle of black liquid. From the puddle emerged a tentacled monstrosity, with a black body and yellow, glowing… were those supposed to be eyes? Stitch couldn't tell.
"It's hideous…" Angel muttered, looking away. Stitch silently agreed.
Sonata stepped forward.
"Compared to an army of Shadows, one weakling like you won't make any difference," He said, plainly.
"Sonata…?" Angel asked.
Music:
~Will Power~
(Persona 5)
A blue glow began to waft off of Sonata. Then, blue flames and chains exploded around him as his visor disappeared, replaced with the visage of a large sharp-dressed man with a stylized top hat and black gloves.
"Let's send 'em to Hell, Fantômas!" Sonata yelled.
"Fantômas" complied, throwing out his hand. A blast of dark energy erupted from his hand and launched at the creature.
Scoffing, the creature swept a tentacle, deflecting the blast.
However, this was distraction; his mask back on, Sonata was already rushing the creature, blade in hand. Stitch, realizing what he was doing, was doing the same, holding one of his daggers and ready to swipe with it. Seeing this, the creature threw out its tentacles, attempting to strike at them.
Sonata held out his blade, blocking the strike, while Stitch jumped to the side and swung at it. However, the blade bounced off of its hide.
"Wha-!?" Stitch started, just as another tentacle struck him, sending him back a short distance. He quickly recovered, and in a burst of fire, resummoned Dantès.
Mirroring what Fantômas had done earlier, he sent a blast of dark energy at the creature, who, again, effortlessly smacked the it away. Stitch scowled as his mask rematerialized on his face. The Shadow laughed mockingly at him for his efforts.
"The hell!?" Stitch growled. Sonata leapt into the air, swinging his sword down on where the Shadow's head should be. Once more, the blade bounced off of its hide, and Sonata had to flip out of the way to avoid a tentacle.
"Tch!" He spat. "It's like a cockroach; annoying, weak, and physical strikes don't bother it at all!"
Angel grunted. Well, there went her idea of sneaking up on it and simply kicking the creature's head in.
"Alright, so what's the plan now?" She asked.
"Either we riddle it with bullets, or…" Sonata seemed to think. Suddenly, he grabbed his mask and tossed it away. As he did so, an identical mask suddenly appeared in his other hand, and exploded into fire.
Within the blaze, another being, another Persona, emerged.
"Cait Sith!" Sonata called. The Persona took form as a small, catlike creature wearing boots, a cape, and a feathered hat, just as the Shadow sent out another tendril. "Roast 'em!"
Cait Sith complied, swiping its rapier. A small blast of fire consumed the tendril, prompting the Shadow to roar with pain, pulling back its now charred tendril.
"What was that!?" Stitch shouted, surprised, just as the Persona vanished, forming back into Sonata's mask.
"Not important right now," Sonata responded, rushing the Shadow. Lashing out with pain, the Shadow began sending several tendrils in all directions in an effort to keep him away.
Sonata side-stepped the first tentacle, and Stitch and Angel were forced to leap to the side as well. Seeing another one sweeping towards him, Sonata ducked, before leaping to avoid being struck when it passed him again.
Getting closer to his mark, Sonata reached into his jacket and pulled out a black pistol. Leaping to avoid another strike, Sonata landed on top of the creature's head, and, before it could respond, shoved the barrel of the gun into the Shadow's head and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The Shadow's body went limp. Its tentacles fell, and Sonata leapt off of its head and landed in front of the two experiments. As the Shadow disintegrated, Sonata turned to the experiments.
"Now, let's get out of here before more show up!" He urged.
"Wait, how did you just-?" Angel started, only for Sonata to suddenly shove them both into the elevator.
"H-Hey!" Stitch yelled, just as Sonata stepped in himself and pressed the down button. The elevator doors swung close, and they descended.
Sunday, March 8 20XX (Evening)
Stitch and Angel landed flat on their asses at the entrance to the hotel.
"Ow…" Stitch groaned, standing back up. Angel shakily stood up as well before looking at her paws.
"We're in experiment form again…" She murmured, before looking back at the hotel. The Palace was now a ghostly image looming above them, standing in contrast against the red-orange rays of the setting sun.
"Ngh… Looks like we're back in our world…" Stitch muttered. He cringed. "I'm beat. You?"
"Ih," Angel nodded, her ears drooping. She inhaled deeply. "W-What just happened?"
"I…" Stitch started. "…Don't know. I think… I think we've got a lot to think about…"
Angel nodded.
"Yeah. Should, um, should we head home?"
"Probably," Stitch admitted, but paused. "Before we do, though… do you wanna grab a snack at the coffee place? I think we have some stuff we should talk about."
Angel paused to think for a few moments.
"I think we should, yeah."
A blond-haired boy grimaced as he entered his hotel room. Sitting on the edge of one of the two beds, watching TV and eating snacks, was a tiger.
Or, rather, it seemed to be a tiger. It had the color scheme of one, and catlike features. However, it's extremely long body and arms, with cartoonishly short legs called that into question.
The "tiger" looked over at the boy, and gave him a half-hearted wave.
"Hey. Did you have fun in the Palace?" He asked.
The boy scowled.
"I would have had more fun if you were there with me, lunkhead," He grunted, walking over and snatching the bag of snacks from the tiger.
"Hey!" The tiger yelled, only for the boy to smack him in the head with the bag. "Ow…"
"C'mon, you lazy coward. We have a lot to discuss over this Palace."
"What, you managed to learn something? Without me?" The tiger feigned shock.
"It so happens that I've also discovered another Persona user, as well as a Persona user candidate," The boy added.
This time, the tiger's shock was genuine.
"No way… Someone else has the Nav?" He asked. The boy nodded.
"Alright, Hobbes. Let me tell you what we've found so far…"
Music:
~No More What-Ifs~
(Persona 5: Royal)
"Hey, did you hear-?"
"Wow, I'm so pumped!"
"You know, seeing everyone smiling like that… it's kinda creepy…" Angel muttered. Stitch nodded in agreement. The two experiments were seated at one of the tables outside KiKi's Coffee Hut. Stitch was downing his favorite meal, coconut cake and coffee, while Angel had opted to instead buy an iced coffee and chocolate cake.
The two were also watching the people around them. There were never very many people around, but those who were had huge, empty smiles plastered on their faces.
To be frank, it really WAS creepy.
To say nothing of the strange visual distortions both had seen once they entered the premises. Stitch was only mildly surprised when Angel mentioned that she was seeing them as well.
"That's crazy!"
"Sweet! That rules!"
Stitch glanced back at the gossiping people around them.
"Almost like they're brainwashed, right?" Stitch asked, taking another sip.
Angel nodded.
"That's the word I was looking for. It's like everyone's been brainwashed into being happy," Angel said.
"What really scares me is that even Stella and Slang are being affected by it," Stitch commented. "Stella's really powerful, and Slang is… well, Slang. So, that even they've been brainwashed is pretty crazy."
Angel nodded again, her ears drooping.
"Yeah…" She sighed. She then looked around.
"I'm worried, honestly…" She admitted, looking down at her drink. Stitch looked up at her.
"Yeah?" He asked, prodding a little.
"I mean… we're up against someone who can distort reality itself, is what Sonata was saying. And the Palace Ruler, I mean, she was able to not only bring back the dead, but make it so that they never died in the first place. She was even able to trap Stella like this…" Angel said. "So… do you really think we stand a chance against that? I mean, is it even possible to stop this…?"
Stitch said nothing. In response, he stood up from his chair, walked over to her, and pulled her into a hug. Angel's eyes went wide for a moment, before she closed them and leaned into it, pressing against his fur.
"We're getting through this. I promise," Stitch said, quietly. Angel said nothing, choosing to instead press her face against his chest.
As the two stood there, Stitch heard something within his mind. Someone speaking, in a gentle, reverberating voice.
I am thou… thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow…
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Lovers Persona
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power…
After a moment, Angel pulled away, smiling softly at him, before looking around.
"Um… I hate to change the subject… but I just can't get into a romantic mood with all these creepy smiling people around," She commented, stepping back. It seemed like no one had noticed them, being too wrapped up in… whatever was making them smile like that.
"Oh, yeah, totally," Stitch agreed, silently wondering what it was he just heard. "Maybe when we go on dates, we should do so somewhere more private."
Angel froze in place.
"W-W-Wha-?" She stammered, her face going from pink to bright red. Stitch looked confused for a few seconds, before his eyes went wide.
"W-W-W-Wait, that is NOT what I meant-!" Stitch yelped, his face an equal shade of red. "I mean if you don't, er, I mean-!"
An awkward silence hung over the two experiments, whose faces were now beet red.
After a few seconds, Stitch cleared his throat.
"Um, so, about Sonata's offer…" He started.
"To become the Phantom Thieves, right?" Angel said, quietly. "Do you really wanna do it?"
"Honestly… I dunno," Stitch admitted. "I think it's our only option. It's a safe bet to assume that place… that Palace is the cause of all this, and it was created by someone whose heart is twisted, right?"
"Right…"
"So, I think we should go for it. No, I think we need to. If we want to get out of this… idyllic nightmare, we need to destroy that Palace," Stitch concluded with a sigh.
Once more, an awkward silence fell over the two of them.
After a few minutes, Stitch stood up.
"I should get going. I need to tell Jumba about all this," He said. Angel nodded.
"Yeah… I'll see you tomorrow. We're meeting again at the Palace tomorrow, right?" She asked. Stitch nodded.
"Yeah, at noon."
Stitch went to leave. In doing so, however, he saw Mertle walking by, and his eyes narrowed.
Did he REALLY need to deal with her two days in a row?
Angel followed his gaze, and saw the red-headed brat skulking by. She didn't like Mertle either, but sometimes, she felt Stitch could go too far in trying to deal with her. She was about to get up and dissuade him from doing anything when reality suddenly distorted.
Mertle suddenly tripped on a pebble and landed face-first in a mud puddle.
"AGAIN!?" She screeched, loudly enough both experiments had to cover their ears.
Stitch burst out laughing.
"W-What just happened!?" He said in between fits of laughter.
Angel just stared. That puddle hadn't been there before…
Yelling and whining indignantly, which was promptly ignored by everyone present, Mertle pulled herself back to her feet, and continued on her way.
Stitch grinned.
"Okay, that was awesome," He said, still chuckling.
"Stitchie, that puddle wasn't there a moment ago," Angel said plainly.
"Huh?"
"You saw that too, didn't you? Reality just… warped, and that puddle appeared right beneath her. Do you think…?" She trailed off. Stitch blinked.
"I… huh. Weird…" He muttered, looking at the puddle, then back at Mertle.
Music:
~Another Ideology~
(Persona 5: Royal)
"So, let Jumba be getting this straight: root cause of strange happenings is strange alternate reality created from heart of twisted person?" Jumba asked. Stitch nodded. "And experiment 626 awoke a power that allows you to summon piece of psyche to fight monsters?"
"I'm STILL having trouble believing it," Stitch admitted, slumping. Jumba crossed his arms.
"I am not believing it at all," He grumbled. Stitch sighed.
"The Palace is visible if you go to the hotel. And I think…" He extended his extra arm to reveal his phone. Pressing on the Metaverse Navigator icon, he pulled up the search history and showed it to Jumba.
"Why is information being censored?" Jumba asked, blinking. Stitch shrugged.
"I don't know. We think the Palace Ruler, er, the one who created the Palace, is doing it somehow," He admitted. Jumba placed a finger to his chin.
"Hm… Well, 626, I am not sure I am believing you, but if you believe you have found lead, keep investigating it. Am sure you will have better luck than I am having."
Stitch looked up.
"That reminds me… You said you were going to do your own research, right? What'd you find?"
Jumba paused.
"Well, to be confirming previous thoughts, yes, it seems little girl's parents never died in this reality. It also seems that experiment 621 never suffered 'incident', though we have already established this fact."
Stitch nodded. "Ih. I called you about it earlier, about Slang's child."
He paused.
"That reminds me… Fang went and disappeared again, even though that 'incident' never happened. Assuming that, in this reality, she never had that demon sealed inside of her…" He trailed off, but Jumba picked up on what he meant.
"…Then 622 should not be angry alcoholic and should be back at home with sisters as just angry?" He finished. Stitch nodded.
"Basically, yeah," Stitch affirmed. "I was actually thinking about texting her earlier and seeing if I could get her attention."
"You may wish to be doing that," Jumba remarked. "Depending on 622's current condition, she could make great ally."
Stitch couldn't agree more. Fang was hot-headed and hard to work with on a good day, but when she WAS willing to cooperate, she was utterly lethal on the battlefield.
Even in the Metaverse, where magic didn't seem to work properly, her raw strength would still be a massive asset.
"Another thing, 626," Jumba started. Stitch looked at him expectantly.
"Yeah?"
"I looked into our records in Galactic Federation database, and there is no record of our arrests."
Stitch's eyes went wide.
"What…?" He whispered quietly. "But… then we shouldn't be here…"
"Basically, in this reality, I was never arrested for creating evil genius experiments, and you were never sentenced to prison asteroid for existing," Jumba explained, before frowning. "Am not understanding how so-called 'Palace Ruler' is distorting reality to such extremes. But at very least, the so-called 'Shadows' seem to be honest about their master making our lives better."
"That reminds me," Stitch said. "When Angel and I were looking around, we found some display boards. One of them had a title for a research paper. The Treatment of Patients Through Changes in Their Cognitions, I think. What do you make of it?"
Jumba looked deep in thought.
"Is possible that changes in cognition could be related to how people around island are behaving. Because cognition is how brain processes information, changing it could be called brainwashing."
Stitch nodded, but paused.
"That doesn't explain everything, though. How is changing cognition related to reality being warped, and to this extent? It feels like we're missing something…"
"Indeed it does. I will be doing more research into subject," Jumba nodded.
"Yeah, sounds good. I'm gonna try and contact Fang, and maybe Cobra Bubbles as well," He said, before stretching and yawning. Jumba raised an eyebrow.
"Tired, 626?" He asked.
"Yeah… today wiped me out," Stitch nodded. "I'm gonna go to bed. See you tomorrow, Jumba."
"Be having good night, 626."
?
Music:
~Aria of the Soul~
(Persona 5)
The ratting of chains roused Stitch from his sleep. Pulling himself up from his bed. He noticed that the room he was in had walls covered in blue velvet. He sighed.
'Great… I'm back here…' He inwardly groaned. He looked at his paws, and blinked in surprise to find that he was still in his experiment form. He looked over at the cell door, and raised an eyebrow when he saw that the cell door was gone.
'…The heck?' He wondered.
His ears perked up.
He heard the sound of footsteps approaching. From the side, he saw Lavenza approaching the door of the cell.
Confused, Stitch jumped off of the bed and approached her.
"Good evening, Trickster," Lavenza smiled.
"Um, hi?" Stitch asked, somewhat awkwardly.
"Ah, I apologize if you are confused," Stitch blinked when he heard Igor's voice. Looking over, he saw the grotesque man sitting at his desk, his wide, unblinking eyes focused on the blue experiment.
"Not much of a prison when there's no door on the cell," Stitch commented with a shrug. "Also, I'm in experiment form. What's with that?"
"You have chosen to rebel against ruinous fate that awaited you," Lavenza spoke. "Thus, the prison of fate can no longer contain you, and you have gained the ability to express your true self."
"Oh," Stitch said, plainly. He wasn't even going to question it; all this talk of 'fate' and 'destiny' didn't make much sense to him.
Igor chuckled.
"You have succeeded in awakening to your power. Well done," He said.
"My power…" Stitch muttered. "My Persona…?"
"Correct," Igor said. "Through your rebellious will, you have faced your other self and awoken to the power of your Persona. As that boy explained to you, a Persona is in essence a 'mask' – an armor of the heart one wears when facing worldly matters.
Stitch blinked.
"You… saw all that?" Stitch asked.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," Igor responded in the affirmative. "However, we have summoned you here to discuss a different matter. Make no mistake, it is every bit as important."
"As you should be aware, there are many people who can do things even you cannot," Lavenza said.
Stitch looked over at her, and nodded lowly.
Stella, Liz, Sky, even Lilo and Jumba… all of them could do things he couldn't. Of course, the reverse was true as well; he could do things they couldn't.
"It would be most wise of you to seek out such individuals and form bonds with them," Lavenza continued. "In doing so, you may be able to learn new methods with which you can explore Palaces and the Metaverse as a whole."
"Huh…" Stitch put a paw to his chin.
"We do not mean that you should form superficial attachments, of course," Igor added. "It would be for the best if you seek out individuals who share in your goal of restoring the world to its proper state."
"Earlier, you established such a bond," Lavenza said. Stitch's eyes widened as he remembered the moment he had shared with Angel earlier in the evening. Had that been Lavenza speaking?
"As your bonds with other develop, you will become closer to them. In turn, they will help nurture the power still slumbering within you," Igor added. Stitch tilted his head.
"What do you mean by that?" Stitch asked, looking confused. He was met with the sound of an alarm reverberating throughout the prison. Cringing, he grabbed his ears and pulled down on them in an effort to muffle the sound.
"Our time here is up, it seems," Igor said. "We will contact you again at a later date."
As the alarm continued to reverberate, everything in Stitch's vision went dark.
Let me tell you, trying to make action based on a turn-based RPG is HARD. I think I managed, though. Tell me what you think!
Also, I'll be using this space to keep track of Stitch's Confidants/Social Links, just so nobody gets confused. He only has one so far, but it's best if we did this sooner rather than later.
Confidants:
Angel (The Lovers): Rank 1