Love is Only a Drop Away

Chapter 2
Helpless in Our Lovely Embrace
[ft. Schoolgirl!Ren]

(Uploaded on November 14, 2020)

Summary: Defeated and cast aside by society, Ren Amamiya half-expected to go to Hell for everything he's done. As it turned, Hell wasn't too far off the mark.

Trapped a labyrinth far removed from any Palace he's ever seen, and dogged by two girls more perverted than he could ever imagine, Ren just may have met his match. Tricksters may have the power to rise up against distortion—but even they aren't immune from the abyss it originates from…

Notes: This chapter is set not too long after the first one, and concurrently with the climax of Persona 5. Major spoilers from up to the end of December are referenced, though none specifically from Royal's new trimester—and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is essentially a non-factor in this fic.

For clarity's sake, Ren is becoming a mauve-haired schoolgirl as drawn by ojitan_55 (posts/3875299 and posts/3986374 on danbooru).

Warnings: This chapter (still) contains Male-to-Female TF/TG, Mental Changes, Nudity, Loss of Identity, Sexual Content, Mature Descriptions, and Out-of-Character Moments.

False Yasogami High
Group Date Café – Stop ?

In the depths of a once semi-innocent dungeon, a third Wild Card began to stir.

He was a decently attractive young male; face framed with handsome features, short and scruffy black hair adorning his head. His school uniform, adorned with the emblem of Shujin Academy, was as neat as could be: red-buttoned black blazer over a white shirt, plaid pants accompanied by shiny black dress shoes. His lanky appearance and fake glasses, meanwhile, helped to belie the moderately athletic frame hiding beneath them.

On the surface, he was, for all the world, just another ordinary high-school student, same as the other two in this rift in space and time. There was only one tiny issue with this situation:

He wasn't supposed to be here.

Slowly, Ren Amamiya's eyes blinked awake. Instinctively, he rolled his limbs and let out a underscored hum—and then he jolted upward, panickily patting down his entire body.

His breath hitched.

"I'm—I'm alive?"

For a moment, all he could do was stare at his own hands in shock.

Then, the memories of the last few seconds (relative to him, anyway) trickled back into his brain.

"Disappear my ass… What the hell!? AAAA—!"

"Ryuji!"

"Is this—really it? Augh—!"

"No! NO—!"

"Morgana… Where did we… go wro—?"

"Ah… Aah…"

"Is this all my fault? Because I… brought you all here?"

…

"I'm sorry… The mission's… a failure…"

His eyes widened.

That was right.

They'd failed.

They'd failed, him and his friends—and they'd disappeared.

Been wiped from cognition.

Erased from reality.

"Morgana! Ryuji! Ann! Everyone!" he shouted. "Are—Are you here!?"

His head swiveled about, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of his friends, wherever they were.

"Yusuke! Makoto! Futaba! Haru! P-Please, a-answer me!"

Silence.

Nothing but silence.

A distressed whine escaped his lips.

No…

No, this can't be…

Alas, as far as he could tell, he was the only person in the entire room. And for all he knew, he was the only person in… in…

…wait, where was he?

Nervously, he looked around at his surroundings. A truly hideous amount of pink greeted him, from the carpeted floors to the cracked skies above. Dark walls dotted the landscape before him, and gigantic chains ominously floated high overhead.

It couldn't have been anything but a part of the Metaverse – and yet, even people's Palaces were less garish than this monstrosity.

Carefully, Ren reached for his face, and touched only his forehead. His mask wasn't there; neither was his thief attire. Wherever he was, he'd have to brave it alone – no teammates, no Navigator, and no Personas of any kind. All he really had to work with was his Misericorde knife and customized R. —the former of which, after a quick test, thankfully seemed to be as effective as usual.

"Well, it's… better than nothing," he sighed.

He steeled his heart with this one thought: if he was alive, then his friends had a good chance of being so, too. And until he managed to discover their true fates, he'd search for them, no matter how long that would take.

I won't let my friends—my Confidants—down, he vowed. I'll figure something out.

I've come too far to fall so easily.

With his resolve temporary inflamed, Ren set out to explore this strange wonderland. So far, it had proven remarkably quiet: there was scarcely any Shadow to be seen, and the ones that were there were… odd, to say the least.

They look so… disconcertedly cute, he noted—the horse, the bow and arrows, that face… what do I even say to them?

Ryuji would probably have some loud, bombastic reaction to them, which Futaba would follow up with some fairly obscure reference. He could already imagine the group-wide conversation from there—

He shook his head. Focus, Ren! Don't let yourself be distracted! You'll have time to mo—to think about them later!

Luckily for Ren, the last eight months had given him plenty of experience in sticking to the shadows—and so he was able to dart from cover to cover, making his way through the mysterious labyrinth with none of the Shadows any the wiser.

That being said, he wasn't about to drop his guard anytime soon. The dungeon ahead of him seemed to sprawl on endlessly; a dangerous gauntlet full of winding paths, perilous traps, and tricky conveyor belts—with high-powered snipers on top of that. And while Ren could take a few hits, all things considered, that didn't mean he wanted to contend with these guys alone.

A few times, he managed to find himself some relatively isolated areas, rooms that the Shadows would conveniently overlook on their patrol paths. Here, he tried to summon his Persona with all the willpower he had, reaching as deep as he dared into his very soul. Arsene was just barely hovering at the fringe of his consciousness—but every time it felt like he had him, he slipped from his fingers and fell back into the depths.

"Come on, Arsene," he grit his teeth, "I need you here now! Why can't I call you here…!?"

Once again he attempted to bring forth his Persona, and once again he was miserably defeated in the process. He slouched, a great well of despair beginning to build up inside of him.

The Grail's last words to him echoed into his brain.

'Indeed. This isn't my doing. You imbeciles are about to disappear from the public's cognition.

'Mementos and reality have become one… thus, those who have disappeared from cognition cannot exist anywhere.'

"I can't believe this," he muttered. "Even after everything I've been through, am I still nothing more than a helpless boy…?" He raised a fist and pounded it against the wall. "Dammit! What the hell do I do!? I thought I was doing right by the world, but—all I was really doing was playing into that Holy Grail's hands!"

Eight months spent changing the hearts of the wicked, eight months spent becoming a force for revolution and reformation across Japan… in just a few short days, he was struck all the way back to square one. No, even lower than that.

"There's gotta be something I can still do," he hissed. "Something, anything! If there's anyone here—any god that's listening to my pleas—please… give me some sort of hand—!"

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?"

Ren's hair immediately stood on end. He whirled around in the direction of the voice – and what he saw chilled him to the bone.

Two girls stood before him, blocking the only way out of his little corner. One was made entirely out of blue slime, showing no shame in revealing her bare, voluptuous body for all to see; the other was some kind of blonde-haired demon, with horns and bat wings and a leotard that left little to the imagination.

Both were staring at him with differing emotions—the former sinisterly, the latter cheerfully—but it was clear that they were not to be underestimated.

The Phantom Thief took a step back, sweat glistening on his forehead.

No way… this was a trap!?

"I was wondering who the source of that magical disturbance from earlier was," the slime mistress spoke, a grin hanging off her sultry face. "And who should we have here but another Wild Card? The fates themselves are shining upon us, it seems."

The ditzy blonde nodded. "Yep!" she chirped, tilting her head back and forth. "Aww, he looks soooooo… what's that word-y thing… innocent! Like no one's ever shown him how good the world of sex can be! Good thing all those bad boys led us aaaaaaaaall the way here, then~"

"Another… Wild Card…?" Ren whispered.

I… I don't know what that term is, but… it's gotta be related to the power of Persona. It's gotta be.

Then… that means…

…could… could everyone—really be here—?

He whipped out his knife and pointed it at the odd duo. "Just—who are you two?" he asked. "What do you mean by that? And—what the heck's going on in the first place!?"

The seductress raised an eyebrow. "Getting right to the point, are we? Mmm… I like that in a gal." Ren would have corrected that last part, but… he had a feeling that was probably a bad idea. "My name is Midori Arisato, and this is my… acquaintance, Parsee Narukami."

"Hi!" the now-identified Parsee waved. "I'm Parsee! We're the rulers of this place! Okay, not the ruler rulers; we don't have any castle or throne or anything… but we totally should, shouldn't we? There'd be so—many—places we could dirty up, and ones with a royal p… pres… pretty-sitty, too!" She got up in Ren's face and poked his cheek. "Now it's your turn! Who are you, ya 'lil cutie? Souji Seta? Akira Kurusu?"

He pushed her away and tried to relax. "…Ren. It's Ren Amamiya." Top-performing student at Shujin Academy, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, he didn't say.

"Ren, huh? Fun name for a boy like you! Can I call you Renren? You look like a Renren. Kinda like how I used to be a Yuyu! Or how Midi-chan here was a Minmin! I dunno if that makes sense, but I think it makes ya perfectly… err… what was I talking about again?"

Ignoring her companion's increasing cloudiness, Midori decided to pick up the conversation. She started moving in a circle around him, her features showing the most visible interest in his body, much to his discomfort.

"Hmm… Just by looking at you, I can already tell… you're the type of person we used to be like, not too long ago," she remarked. "Second-year schoolboys, perfectly ordinary in the eyes of the public. Masters of socialization, able to build up friendships in just ten steps. A pair of Wild Cards, able to swap through multiple Personas at will…"

Ren stiffened.

"That's right. You thought you were the only one around who had that specific power?" Her heterochromatic eyes glinted dangerously. "Oh, no. This little tale is a collaborative effort."

"…so I'm not alone after all," he murmured to himself. Not exactly comforting, but—he'd take what you can get. That being said… "But… even if what you're saying is true… that doesn't explain your appearance – gender or otherwise!" he pointed out. "I'm still a human, and you two are—you two are—"

Parsee put a finger to her lips. "Yeah, it's totally weird for all y'all, isn't it? That's 'cause this place became all weird and stuff, and wanted to give us a yummy, yummy present! It was, like, the bestest meal I've ever had. I dunno how 'ta describe it—it's like a yumsplosion in your mouth, except not in your mouth, and in, like, everywhere else!"

Do I even want to know what that means!?

"It was an… enlightening experience," Midori said. "Got a rockin' new bod, my eyes opened to a new world—and, of course, a whole new slew of magic powers to play with." She opened up her palm and formed sphere of goo, pulsating and bubbling at a decent pace, before letting it dissipate back into nothing. "Unfortunately, I haven't had much of a chance to really see what I'm capable of yet…"

Then, she stared straight into Ren's soul, casting a shadow over her eyes.

"But now that you're here…well, there's no reason not to find out anymore, is there?"

Ren clutched his knife tighter, beads of sweat going down his forehead. And the penny drops…!

Midori's succubus friend brightened up, "Oh yeah! We're the only ones who, like, have gotten to exp-ed-i-ent this fun! We haven't seen a single person since… uh, you, actually! And I'm getting totes so bored. I wanna do somethin' new and interesting, share the love and all that!" She flapped her wings and beamed at Ren. "Don't worry, though—it won't hurt! …much! I think. Maybe."

He sent another mental call toward Arsene, who once again was unable to answer. Midori laughed harshly.

"Trying to summon your Persona, I see. Don't bother. Whatever magics are at play here, good luck trying to slip your entourage past them. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show…" Her grin got wider and scarier, and she reached out a hand to touch Ren's skin. "…and let us show you how the gift of womanhood goes."

Okay, screw this! Quick as a hedgehog, their soon-to-be victim threw a ball of smokescreen onto the floor. Plumes of smoke rose up and blinded Midori and Parsee ("Agh!" "Eee! My makeup!"), giving Ren the opening he needed to dash in-between them and out into the labyrinth.

"You little—!" Midori rubbed her eyes and dashed after him, with Parsee doing the same from the air. "Shadows! FOEs! We have an intruder in our midst! Don't let him escape! Catch him and bring him to us—transformed, if that's what it takes!"

Parsee shook her empty head. "I didn't know he wanted to play tag!" she said, obliviousness dancing in her eyes. "Okay, then. Hey, Midi-chan!" she waved to her girlfriend. "Whoever tags him first gets first dibs!"

A smirk came onto the slime girl's lips. "Oh, you're on, Par-Par."

Ren had never felt so panicked before in his life.

Eight months of Metaverse training were being put to good use as he made a mad dash toward whatever end of the floor he could reach. He pushed his feet as hard as they could go, ignoring the strain that was being placed upon his legs as a result.

Despite the epic case of anxiety, one thought was overriding all other ones:

Whatever madness is going on here, I don't want any part in it!

All around him – and directly behind him – were a torrent of Shadows and FOEs, coming out of the woodworks from just about every angle. Bows and arrows and limbs and weapons of all kinds were being raised in pursuit of one singular goal: deal with their would-be escapee by any means necessary. So far, Ren had been able to dodge what had been thrown his way, if only by several hairs, but he knew his luck wouldn't exactly last forever.

Items were being tossed out of his bag at a rapid pace – Physical and Magic Ointments, status effect-inflicting Vials, elemental Magatamas; whatever he needed to put as much distance between him and the enemy swarm as possible.

I didn't think I'd be using all my resources up like this, he thought, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Above him, Parsee was calling out to him in a sing-songy tone. "Ohhhhh, Renren~! Don't run away! We're not gonna bite ya—just give you a bit of a makeover!"

"No thanks!" he replied sharply. "I like myself just the way I am!"

He flung a Sacramental Bread at her, which she blocked using her heart-tipped tail.

"Hey, don't throw that garbage at me!" she pouted. "That's so not kudos of you!"

Like this is!?

As the chase continued, and the forces hunting Ren seemed only to get crazier by the second, Ren was forced to spend more time focusing on the dodging aspect of his run instead of the counterattacking part—helped in part by the now-sizable dent in his emergency reserves. Furthermore, the increased magnitude of the crowd made it harder and harder to avoid them—leading to the trickster taking a few nicks from some of the shot arrows.

"Ack!" He stumbled a little, not having expected the unusually sharp amount of pain that came from them. He managed to get going again before the swarm could capitalize on it, but the effects were already taking hold: his energy had faded ever so slightly, and his clothes seemed to be a little rougher, if he wasn't hallucinating.

He brought his arms up and pulled up his sleeve. There was something lighter and paler about his texture now, and he could really feel the breeze brushing beside his skin. "D-Damn it… What—What is this…?"

Several more arrows whizzed passed by him, breaking his attention.

He shook his head. "Okay, run now, inspect later!"

But while he had been distracted by his little plight…

…he didn't notice the puddle of blue liquid creeping up from behind him.

And so…

"Gotcha!"

"Uuuah—!"

Beneath him, Midori reformed and tackled him with a surprising amount of force, for being a girl made entirely out of slime. He ended up pinned to the floor in no time at all, unable to escape her hold on his arms or her weight holding him down.

"Thought you could escape from me, huh?" the seductress stated. "Sorry, but I always get I want."

"Ugh…! Let go!" Frantic, Ren tried to stab Midori with his knife, only for her to yank it out of his hand and toss it into the crowd behind them.

"Naughty, naughty," she admonished him. "Don't you know it's rude to point something sharp at a lady? You ought to be punished for such a disdainful act." She pressed up further against his body, her literally slimy self seeping past his clothes and into his flesh.

He wriggled around uncomfortably as his stature began to experience a dramatic makeover. The slime that Midori was leaving on him felt as if it was massaging his muscles, pushing them down and leaving a rather plain frame behind. As more and more of his athletic physique was melted away (along with all of his body hair), Ren struggled not to react to his assailant's… perverted actions; i.e. rubbing up and down to get all of—well, herself inside of him.

"Mmm… You can feel it, can't you?" Midori whispered. "Your body changing, warping… I bet you've never felt anything like this before, have you?"

Ren glared. "Wh-What the hell is wrong with you…!?" he shouted. "I—I don't have anything to do with this! Exerting your new powers on an innocent just for kicks… you're no different from all the other Palace rulers I've faced!"

"Palace rulers…? Now that's a new term," she snickered. Her lips curled. "Maybe this isn't exactly what you'd call 'right', but honestly, I don't care anymore. This is an isolated rift in time and space, after all; nothing here actually matters. So me and Par-Par, we're gonna live like queens—and there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it. Now, do us all a favor… and submit to our rule."

Just to drive the point home, Midori dragged out the next few changes, first by forcing the once-Phantom Thief to drop a couple inches. Curves and widened hips were beginning to show on his torso, and his back lurched forward to better emphasize his (as of yet) nonexistent assets. And already, his arms and legs were being drained of quite a bit of mass, the process of which was rapidly expanding upward.

Ren was becoming genuinely frightened—for his life, for his freedom, and for his masculinity.

But that didn't mean he wasn't about to give in here.

"Like… hell… I… will…!" he spat back at her. Clumps of blue sparks were erupting in the air around him, and his eyes were flickering from a dull grey to a defiant yellow. "I promised… that I would do whatever it takes… to see my justice through…! So don't think… for a second… that I'm gonna let you… have it your own way!"

The magics surrounding the Group Date Café faltered at this moment, by chance or by overextension… and the Wild Card wasted no time on capitalizing on this opportunity. With this, the sparks turned into full-on flames, and Midori had just enough time to looked shocked—"What!?"—before an explosion of energy violently blew her off Ren's body (in pieces). From the sea of his soul came his one and only guardian angel:

The Pillager of Twilight, Arsene.

"Arsene," Ren called, "g-get me outta here!"

The black-winged gentlemen thief let out a chilling laugh as he gripped his owner's arms and took off as high as he could go. The Shadows and FOEs on the floor launched attack after attack in a desperate attempt to bring them down—but alas, they had long since reached a height unreachable by their weapons.

Parsee descended next to her friend-with-benefits, staring up at the ever-disappearing duo with awe. "Wowwwwwww…" she said, eyes sparkling. "That Persona there's, like, the ultimate bad boy. D'you think he's good in bed, Midi-chan?"

Midori reconstituted herself and growled. "No time for that! Get me up there, and let's get after him! We can't lose him now!"

"Righty-righty!"

The succubus proceeded to embrace Midori in a huge hug, and—bolstered by her devilish magic—sent both of themselves rocketing off after Ren.

Ren breathed in and out.

In and out, in and out, in and out.

Just like Maruki had taught him, in one of their many sessions.

He kept up this mental exercise for several moments, his heartrate finally drifting back toward something resembling calm.

"Okay," he muttered, "okay. I've got some more breathing room now. If I can just keep this up, I might be able to reverse the changes."

He looked down at himself—his clothes had half disintegrated at this point, showing off more of his altered body than he was comfortable with. What was left was struggling to stay on his now slender frame, and he had long since lost his shoes (and socks!) in the ensuing chaos. If it wasn't for his still masculine face, one might be able to mistake him for a particularly flat-chested girl.

He shivered—in equal parts horror and simply being cold. "I already look so different… Just what kind of powers do those girls have?" He shook his head and tried to put them out of his mind. "Come on, Ren, you can think about that later. Right now, you've just gotta find a way outta here."

Easier said than done.

But as much as Ren would've wished it, he wasn't out of the woods yet. While scanning the environment with his Third Eye, he caught a glimpse of… something outlined in red ahead of him, getting more and more visible with every passing second. In fact, there were two of those somethings getting closer, one going at an even greater pace—

His eyes widened. "Oh shit!"

He mentally ordered Arsene to Move!, and his Persona obediently did so—just in time for both of them to avoid an blue-colored arrow coming at high speed.

Ren's head whirled to face its source, and there they were: Midori and Parsee, the latter carrying the former as she held a bow in her hands. (It was made of slime, just like her.)

Midori looked pissed, and already had another arrow prepared in the bowstring. "You may have gotten lucky, summoning your Persona," she hissed, "but it's not gonna save you! You're coming with us, beaten or otherwise!"

She started firing off arrows at a rate Yukari would be impressed by, and which Ren had to maneuver Arsene through with only his senses to guide him. He needed to even the scales, fast.

I'm an easy target, like this…! I—I have to defend against them! He choked back his panic and shouted, "Arsene! Eigaon!"

Spirals of dark energy gathered up and soared toward the opposing duo. Parsee nonchalantly swerved away, her eyebrows thoroughly raised. "Hey, I've never seen that attack before! I thought there were the… five, seven element-y things! Did you find a new one?"

"Of course he has Curse magic," Midori grumbled—"everyone in this damn place seems to have it."

Alone in the skies, the two sides of Wild Cards proceeded to have a rather wild duel – they danced around each other in grand fashion, trading several Eigaons and magic arrows and… not much else, due to the circumstances of their 'arena'.

Their roundabout fight was about as extended as the earlier chase. Up here, Midori and Ren were evenly matched; Midori didn't know everything she could do with her powers, and Ren couldn't switch Personas, lest he risk taking a bad tumble. From this range, one small mistake could be both their undoing, and both of them knew it.

Thus, Ren changed trajectories every now and then to throw in a few Brave Blades here and there. It was taxing, but he had enough healing items to offset that—plus, the unexpected maneuvers meant that both Midori and Parsee were taking a good amount of damage.

"Ouchie!" Parsee cried. "My skin has boo-boos now! That's not nice! Beauty like this shouldn't be ruined at all!"

Midori growled and clutched an arm. "That hurt more than I expected…! Guess you have all sorts of surprises up your sleeve."

"I wouldn't be a good Phantom Thief if I didn't at least had that," Ren said snippily, showing his distaste with another Eigaon.

The resident succubus smiled, even as she narrowly dodged it. "Phantom thief? You're a phantom thief? Aww, that's so cooooool!" she gushed "Not cool enough to offset the boo-boos you gave me, but—mmm, now I really wanna get my hands on you!"

"Not happening!" he immediately retorted.

They continued like this for a while, neither side really getting the upper hand for long. Midori managed to land a few hits of her own, and she relished seeing his expression as he changed ever so slightly. His hair grew a little long and reached toward his neck, losing its scruffy style which he had held for so long—and his face was visibly beginning to soften up, further throwing his masculinity into question.

But it wasn't enough.

It couldn't be enough.

Not while he still had the power to resist.

Midori grit her teeth. There had to be something she could do to put an end to this. Something, anything!

An idea came to her mind. "Par-Par. You are a succubus, right?"

"I mean, yeah," she said, confused. "Of course. What about it?"

"If that's the case, then I think you should be able to affect Ren by letting out some pheromones. If we can engulf him with it while he's going in for another attack, we just might be able to catch him off guard!"

Parsee blinked. "Can I do that?" Her lip curled up in thought. "Hmm… I think that might be possible!"

And so, the plan was set. They'd keep fighting on until they could find a good opening. A while passed; many more projectiles were fired and summarily fell to the ground. Midori had, at this point, gotten Ren's attacking patterns down. Any moment now… she breathed.

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

"Now!"

Ren went in for another dive, and stumbled straight into a cloud of pink smoke generated by Parsee.

"Wha—!?" he coughed. "A—A trap…!?"

His mind glazed over upon contact with the pheromones, and he found himself slowing down and veering in the wrong direction. The slime girl loaded up her bow, aimed true, and at last—

She scored a hit on Arsene's wings.

And finally, this became Ren's undoing.

He screamed in agony, the magic of Midori's arrows mixing not too well with the bond between Persona and master. Arsene disappeared, his form fading into blue wisps, and Ren began to fall, fall, fall.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"

Ren didn't know how long the fall was.

It could have been a few seconds. It might've even been a few minutes (literally or subjectively).

All he knew was…

"OOF!"

…what was about to happen was truly a fate worse than death.

He hit the ground hard, hard enough to leave a bruise and thoroughly knock him out of the running for the 'successful escapees' list. Aching, he tried to get up and crawl away—only to have Midori and Parsee drop by and stop him right in his tracks.

"I've gotta admit," she said, amused, "you've got a hell of a lotta spunk. No wonder you were chosen to be a Wild Card." She placed a foot on his back and sneered. "It's almost a shame you'll be coming to regret that soon enough."

He glared defiantly into her self-satisfied eyes. "F… Fuck… y-you."

"Oh, it won't be me doing the fucking." She lifted him up and held him against the wall. She cast a smile at Parsee. "So, Par-Par, any ideas for what dear old Renren should look like?"

Her girlfriend brightened up. "Ooh, ooh! I know!" She waved her tail and jabbed it into their helpless victim. "I think black hair's waaaaaaay outta style—we gotta get a little pink in here!"

Ren's hair lengthened once more, this time wildly stretching all the down to his back. True to Parsee's words, she also had it gradually lighten in color, changing from a stark black to a light mauve. The multitude of strands protruding from his scalp helped to hide how much he didn't want this; tears were coming to his eyes even as he reluctantly enjoyed the sensation.

"Good start, girl," Midori praised, one hand gliding over Ren's new mane. It was soft to the touch and fluffy as all hell, perfect for the type of girl the Wild Card was to become. "Man, do I wish I had curls like these. A pretty boy like you doesn't deserve 'em, honestly."

Midori's hands glowed with intent. She placed one right behind Ren's head and let it seep in, working her magic from there.

Ren's visage froze. It began to throb and ripple painfully, and he forced his eyes closed to try and roll with the changes.

The slime moved toward just about every part of his face. His nose shrunk by a wide margin, and his jaws similarly became much less defined. His cheeks collapsed and then reddened as his lips became far more kissable, pillows that could tremble as cutely as a cat, and summarily gained an inexplicable coat of lipstick on top of that.

His voice wasn't immune from the liquid either—as it went down his throat and covered his Adam's apple, he began to cough harshly and repeatedly. With every cough, his pitch rose higher and higher, above Midori's dulcet tones and even Parsee's. "Ah—Ah—Ah—AH—!" By the end, his voice had become somewhat shrill and impossible to take any seriously.

Finally, the tears threatening to spill promptly did so; the build-up taking place in his eyes meant that he couldn't hold them back any longer. He let out a squeal as his irises widened in shape, in tandem with his lengthening eyelashes. They fluttered open to reveal a pair of suddenly garnet eyes, sparkling with fear and just a little bit of reluctant joy.

Ren clasped his hands to his cheeks, a sharp whine exiting his month. "N-No…" He looked and sounded absolutely unrecognizable, like Futaba on way too much candy.

"Lucky for you," Midori continued, plucking his glasses from his feminized face, "you're not gonna be a boy for much longer."

"Wowie, he's coming out great!" Parsee cheered. "Me next, me next!"

The succubus jumped back in and wrapped her arms around their victim's torso—and then, while glowing a rather ominous pink—she proceeded to hug him tight.

Ren screamed as changes began to wrack the rest of his body. His frame, already looking fairly androgynous, caved in with a loud crack, fat leaving his waist and stomach and shifting downward. She kicked and shrieked and struggled as wildly as she could, panicked adrenaline briefly overcoming her exhaustion—but Midori put a stop to that by wrapping around her arms and legs, and then squeezing them tightly.

"Uh, uh, uh," she scolded him. "You lost, fair and square; you don't get to fight anymore."

Both his pairs of limbs slenderized even further, the remnants of his old strength finally leaving him once and for all. Some of the fat instead entered his thighs, turning his legs into a nice and juicy package. His appendages weren't immune either: his fingers became leaner, his fingernails grew longer, his feet became daintier, etc—and coupled with the prominent curves, the expanded hips, and the slimmer figure, it was clear that he couldn't ever be mistaken for a boy anymore.

As the icing on the cake, Midori went ahead and stuck her own limbs into Ren's back. She started massaging his spine, sending both pain and pleasure coursing through his body. The world around appeared as if it was getting bigger—but then, he realized, it was actually the other way around: he was getting shorter!

One inch, two inches, three inches—with every stroke of his spine, Ren lost more and more of his height. He yelped as his feet left the ground, courtesy of Parsee holding him up to make sure he didn't try anything funny. By the end, he had gone from a moderately impressive 5'9" to a hilariously short 4'6".

Midori took her hands out of Ren and smiled. "There we go," she stated smugly. "Small and helpless—just the way I like you."

"Yep-per-ooni," Parsee agreed, dropping him on his ass. "He's, like, almost as cute as me now! And we're not even done with all the crazy-wazy thingies yet!"

Ren scrabbled backward, sliding up against the wall once more. She and Parsee, while not too tall themselves, practically towered over him now—and it was honestly terrifying.

He huddled his knees up close and wrapped his arms around them, seconds away from suffering a nervous breakdown.

"This isn't real," he muttered—"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real this isn't real this isn't real—"

"Oh, this is real," the slimy seductress stated. "This is very, very real." She and her succubus serenader waltzed over to the distressed male and crouched down. "C'mon—are you dissociating already? Where'd all that energy from earlier go?"

This only made Ren start trembling even more. "Go away… please… I—I don't want this…"

"Pfft, I think I know what's the problem!" Parsee piped up. "He hasn't seen the goodness for girlhood for himself yet!" She reached out and yanked off what remained of his pants, revealing his tentpole of a dick hidden beneath. "Like, look at this thing! It's totally starving him!"

She drew a finger down its erect side, causing him to let out a frightened whimper.

"Feel nice, Renren? Well, I'm about to make it even better. I've always wanted to guzzle one of these babies for myself…"

She opened up her mouth, and swallowed his cock whole.

His eyes widened, and a red-hot blush filled his cheeks. A tepid moan escaped his lips as Parsee began to slurp out his flesh in a rather literal fashion. She pushed herself further and further in, her magic working to shrink it with every gulp she took—which very much played havoc on Ren's senses.

Cum spurted out from his crotch wildly and in large quantities, which Parsee was all too happy to savor the taste of. The as-of-yet boy was squealing at an incredibly high pitch, suffering an orgasm the likes of which he had never experienced before. With every surge of energy that was shot through his body, he could feel his old self diminishing in presence—and he both hated it and loved it.

"Mm-hm-hmm!" Parsee hummed delightedly, her voice fairly muffled by her full mouth. "Youse r'lly got uh tasty, tasty cock! Buh we've gotta say g'bye t'it now, so—g'bye~!"

Th-This… This can't… This can't be happening…! I'm a boy! N-Not a girl, a—a boy!

I—I shouldn't care that she's corrupting me more and more! I shouldn't care that I've never felt this much bliss before in my life!

But… But…!

"Ah—Ah—! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"

I can't resist this anymore… I—I don't want to resist this! If being a boy means giving these sensations up, then please… I beg of you…!

MAKE ME INTO A GIRL!

With one final scream, his crotch finished inverting and was sucked into his body, balls and all, sending one enormous wave of bliss rocking across every square inch of his skin. As he laid on the floor, reeling from the aftershocks, Parsee simply giggled and licked her cum-splattered lips.

"Tee hee hee…! Would you look at that? Renren Jr. is gone forever! Don't worry, though—you're about to get something even better!" She gave a little smooch to the place where Ren's manhood once stood. "Okay, Little Miss Renny! You can come on out now! Don't be shy~"

The lips of a vagina formed between his legs soon afterward, accompanied by a fresh clitoris sitting inside of it. His reproductive organs shifted around to accommodate, complete with the addition of working ovaries. In a curious haze, he went and fingered his new pussy, causing this clear liquid to start dripping from it as a result of his heightened state.

"Oh yeah," Midori grinned. "Now we're talking. You're a bonafide girl now, and don't you forget it."

"Whuh… huh?" She shook her head and groaned, her senses slowly returning to her. "What… What was I…?"

She looked down and shrieked. "A-Aaaaaaaaaa—! My… My… My dick… it's—gone!?" Then she realized her hand was moving unconsciously, and she jerked it away in horror. "Wh-What am I doing!? I—I shouldn't be—!?"

Midori slithered up to Ren and wrapped her arms around her chest. "What's wrong, Ren? Feeling under the weather? Could it be that you're… starting to accept this side of yourself?"

"No…! No, I…!" She wanted to deny it, but—then her last few thoughts came back to her.

Her breath hitched. Did I… Did I really… think all of that…?

"You're not dis-a… dis-a… dis-a-something-or-another, are you?" Parsee asked, her head leaning toward her left. "That's not good! You should be enjoying this, just like us!"

"Maybe you need a little more incentive to act on your impulses," the gooey girl mused. She put her hands on Ren's nipples and pushed on through them. "After all, you're still missing two of the most important assets for a girl. Shall I… change that?"

Beneath Ren's skin, seamless streams of goo were being pumped out from Midori's hands and were just as quickly being converted into breast tissue. The more she added, the more Ren's chest began to push itself out.

The mauvette stared at the inflating two mounds in a trance. Her lip quivered as she felt a heat build up inside her chest, further wettening her pussy and giving her libido a somewhat unwanted boost in intensity.

She tried to protest, "S-S-Stop… p-p-please…"—but her cries fell on deaf ears. Midori continued to mold and shape Ren to her heart's desire, tweaking and stimulating her areola while she was at it. The transforming girl moaned louder and louder with every cup size she grew, her euphoria helped along by the bounciness of her new bosom. Every slight movement she made seemed to make them jiggle.

Once her breasts had become sizable enough—she'd estimate them to be a C-cup, perhaps—Midori took her hands out of them and plunged them into Ren's ass. A small squeak came from the once-boy's mouth, only to shift back toward sensual cries as the slime girl began to fill up that aspect of her, too. Under Midori's caressing, it became plumper and a fair bit more squeezable, about as thick as both her and Parsee—and Ren wasted no time in feeling it up for herself.

Two cold hands instinctively went to clasp her butt, and she basked in the feeling of her expanding flesh rippling beneath her touch. "O-Ohhhh… Ohhhhhhhhhhhh…!" It was an amazing sensation, the stimulation once more expelling cum from her vagina.

Her mind was again going hazy, but she held herself back. Deep down, the voice of the boy Ren once was crying out—Don't give in yet! You have to keep fighting! You're a boy! You're a boy! You're a—

—girl, another voice interrupted him, sinful and sultry. A cute, lovely, sexy girl. There's no reason to deny it. You've already lost everything—so what's the harm in indulging in these fantasies?

Don't listen to her! She'll only lead you astray! Remember Ryuji, Ann, Morgana—!

—but lives are fleeting, and friendship even more so. Why not live in the here and now, with only your own needs to give you wings?

As Ren warred with herself, Midori's hands started to produce even more volumes of slime. It ate the remnants of Ren's uniform and spread across her body, somehow solidifying into a new set of clothes for her to wear.

A small white shirt – small enough to bare her midriff – sat below her neck, prominently featuring a blue sailor collar and a red ribbon tied around it. Around her waist was a similarly short blue pleated skirt, and beneath that was a pair of black decorative panties—but not a bra, curiously enough.

Midori smirked. She pulled back from Ren and admired the fruits of her labor. "There we go," she said. "You're perfect now."

She grabbed the girl by both hands and lifted her high off the ground.

"Eyah!?" she yelped, abruptly jolted out of her daze. She started flailing her limbs around frantically. "P-Put me down, put me down!"

She was really light, like putty in Midori's hands—and seeing her trembling lips and flushed cheeks definitely helped with that impression.

"Aren't you just so adorable?" the slime girl cooed. "You're cute, you're powerless, and I can already tell you're succumbing to your carnal desires."

"Not like there's anything wrong with that!" Parsee chimed in, booping Ren on the nose. "Girls always have more fun than boys, that's a fact!"

"Face it," her compatriot continued—"you're going to be our servant for the rest of eternity, and there's no way out of it. And there's no way you'll want a way out of it, either. So long as you're here, all you'll need is us. Us, us, us." She brought the captive girl closer to her face, giving her a good look of her shadowed grin. "Doesn't that sound like a good deal to you, Kokona?"

"N-No! No, it doesn't! And my name's Ren, not Kokona!"

"I dunno," the resident blonde interjected, "You're definitely not a Renren anymore. 'Sides, Kokona's a sexy name for a girl like you!"

"I—I don't care…! I'm not accepting it!" She struggled harder, trying to escape Midori's grasp—but the villainess barely looked bothered by it. "You can't just keep me here! I've got my friends to look out for, a world I need to save—!"

"Oh, posh. Like anyone cares. We're the queens of this realm; our word alone is law. And right now, I decree that you need a… change in perspective, let's call it."

Midori flipped Ren around, putting her face-to-face with her not-quite-favorite blonde-haired succubus. "Parsee? Do your thing."

"Okey-dokey, Midi-chan~!" Her emerald eyes seemed to glitter with ditzy glee, the sight of which was legitimately terrifying. "Don't worry, Renren—no, wait, that's not right. Ahem!"

She cleared her throat.

"Don't worry, Kokona-chan—you won't have anything to worry about in a bit! Pucker up~"

Without warning, Parsee leaned in, cupped Ren's cheeks in her hands… and promptly brought their lips together.

The mauvette gave out a muffled squeal. Waa—waaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!? Her face turned beet-red, her brain essentially blue-screening and requiring a hard reboot.

She would've fought against this gross overstepping of her boundaries, but the pheromones Parsee was emitting kept her utterly sedated—even as her magic dug into her mind and started tearing out just about everything, no matter how essential they were to the core of her being.

I'm Ren Amamiya, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts—

—you're Kokona Amamiya, sex servant to Midori and Parsee.

I'm a second-year at Shujin Academy, top of the class—

—you're barely getting by and can't stop thinking about sex.

I'm a guest of the Velvet Room, confidant to so many—

—you're only a guest to those who can fill the void in your soul.

Get out of my head, g-get out of m-my h-h-h-head—

—there's no need to think—only the satisfaction of living for yourself.

Th-That's not true! Wh-Why is it getting so much harder to focus—?

Parsee separated her lips from Ren's, and Midori dropped the dazed girl onto the floor. Ren was clutching her head, all her senses being overwhelmed and overwritten.

What's… What's happening to me…? I—I'm not a slut, no way—but who doesn't love a good cock in their mouth?

Ack! I—I have to keep myself t-together! I have to stay respectable, attentive, obedient, horny—

'Cause my friends, they'd—they'd love to fuck me silly—I need to, I need to find them—so my Mistresses can show them what real joy i-i-i-i-is~

Midori put a hand to her mouth. "I think Kokona here needs a bit of a boost," she idly remarked. "Oh, Par-Par~"

On command, the succubus released another barrel of pheromones—and their effect on Ren's already addled mind was palpable. Her skirt went down in record time, her quickly-untied panties following suit right afterward. Sweat began to pour down her body as her shaking limbs moved toward the bottom of her shirt.

Making things worse was how Midori and Parsee were teasing her, trying to drive her further over the edge: the former was pressing her voluptuous chest and slimy skin against her back, and the latter was poking around at her pussy and being deliberately coy about it.

"Mmm…" Midori licked the back of her neck, spilling her airy breath. "You want this, don't you?" she whispered. "You want to be ours. Our minion, our servant, ours to do as we please with."

"We've got everything you could ever need," Parsee said—"our eternal love, and all the sex a girl could ask for. So, let's just enjoy this moment together, kay?"

Ren's eyes were spinning in spirals. Her arms were rolling her shirt up higher and higher, exposing her breasts for the world to see—and she was getting hotter and hotter with every passing second.

I—I won't g-give in. I'm still me! I'm still a bo—boy—g-g-b-b-gi—girl—

Pleasure is what you truly want, you know. You can't deny your instincts.

I'm Ren—I'm Ren Amamiya, I'm Ren, I'm Re-R-R-R-K-K—Ko—Ko—

The future is but a fantasy, memory a fabrication…

I'm… I'm…

…so why not let this doorway to bliss free you from your shackles?

The words were right on the tip of her tongue.

She wanted to say them so much—but at the same time, it would mean the end of… him.

"Go on," Midori smiled—"say it. You know you want to."

She took in a breath.

"I'm… I'm…!

"…K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K—"

"Keep going, girl!" Parsee encouraged her.

"…K-Kokona Amamiya…"

"Louder!" Midori said.

"I'm… I'M…! I'M KOKONA AMAMIYA!"

She closed her eyes as the last of the changes cemented themselves in her mind. Gone was the studious, intelligent, determined Wild Card – and in his place… was a subservient, slutty, sex-crazed schoolgirl, ready to do whatever it was her Mistresses wanted.

Kokona's shirt went flying off, landing several feet away from the three of them. Dizzy, cloudy eyes looked to Midori and Parsee with extreme lust.

"Oh, Mistresses…!" she breathed with total reverence, "Please… Please let me have the honor of basking in your presence! I—I live to be fulfilled by you, and nothing else!"

Midori laughed, pleased by this total victory over Kokona. "Ahhhh…! Now there's a good little servant," she said, patting the once-boy on the head. "No more boring-ass manliness—just a girl who knows who her masters are. She's turned out so well, I think she deserves a reward—wouldn't you say, Par-Par?"

Parsee nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!" she replied. "I love giving out rewards—especially the sexy kind of rewards!"

The two of them brought Kokona onto the cold, hard ground, Parsee quickly choosing to abandon her clothes as well. The trio of naked girls—two monsters, one human—wasted no time in getting down and dirty, the slime girl slathering the other two in her essence; the succubus digging her hands about and teasing them with her tail.

It was absolute bliss for Kokona: her tongue was being filled with love, her lady parts with inquisitive fingers and delicious goo. She had entirely forgotten about her goals, her lost friends, whatever else she had had on her mind prior to coming here – the only thing she cared about now was serving her self-proclaimed queens' every whim.

I love Mistresses Midori and Parsee~! she thought, her mouth drooling happily. They're the best! Their gorgeous figures, their awe-inspiring power—ahhhh, I'm so glad that I could be their loyal servant!

And so the Group Date Café claimed its third victim, unwittingly drawn through no fault of his own into its hallowed halls. No one was safe from its influence, regardless of time and distance—and no one could escape its dark-powered grasp.

That was a truth everyone would soon know.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me~

More than two weeks late, here's a surprise second chapter! I had meant for this to be my quote-on-quote 'Halloween Special', but I got buried in work.

Ah, no harm done. TF/TG content is topical every day of the year—and besides, I have a ton of ideas for where to take this fic.

As you can no doubt figure, the corrupted Group Date Café has underwent something of an expansion. Whatever dark magics have overtaken it wouldn't be satisfied with the original four measly floors, after all—it needs to be a realm unto itself. It allows me to get a little more creative with my scenarios, too, so it's a win-win all round.

There were a great many possibilities I could've taken for Ren's transformed self, I admit. I considered Lucifer from Helltaker, Dirjiland from Mabinogi, Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria—but ultimately, I decided I could mine the most out of him ending up as a powerless little schoolgirl. It makes him/her an interesting foil to Minato/Midori and Yu/Parsee, who have gained quite the repertoire as a result of their transformation. It also means she's entirely at the mercy of these two perverted beings, but hey—Wild Card unity, amirite?

I did my best to write a competent chase scene in spite of my own prevalent procrastination skills. I also tried to keep it as engaging as possible by mixing in part of the transformation sequence. Just having it occur as I've always done would be a mite repetitive at this point; mixing things up like this helps to keep things unique and engaging. Admittedly, it goes on for a bit too long prior to the rest of the makeover proper, but that's the price you pay, I suppose.

It also provides a good amount of tension for Ren. Sure, we all know I'd end up fully transforming him no matter what he tried, but it's fun to watch him fruitlessly try to escape in search of that little bit of hope.

Don't worry, though – he'll be seeing his friends again, soon enough. After all, it wouldn't do to have an incomplete collection of Persona-users in this rift… heh heh heh…

Well, that's all for now – see you around!