Persona 5: Shots Through The Heart
Shot 20: Game Over?
Just when you've think you've won against the world, it has a strange way of getting the upper hand.
The day after exams were finished, the Phantom Thieves gathered at Shibuya to get info on Shido's case. To their shock and dismay, the messy situation had only escalated further. The public is still worshipping the tyrant and crying out for his return, even after he confessed his crimes, the media is treating the incident as if he was suffering from mental exhaustion and saying that his claims were false, the corrupted government is preventing all prosecutors, including Sae Nijima, from making a case against him, and the Phantom Thieves are being treated like they never even existed, claiming that everything they've done is a farce. As Morgana states, it's as if the entire world has become distorted.
If things are allowed to continue, Shido's will shall spread everywhere, Metaverse crimes will escalate to a national scale, and the Phantom Thieves will be arrested and most likely executed by the corrupted government… But the leader finds hope.
Akira recalls how Mona mentioned that Mementos is essentially the Palace of the entire public and the center of all distortions, but it's really no different all of the other Palaces, which means it also has a Treasure. If they can steal it, the whole general public will be forced to have a change of heart and hold Shido accountable for his crimes. However, since Mementos is what is allowing the Metaverse to exist, it means that all substance of material cognition will disappear. Translation: The Phantom Thieves will lose their powers and go out of business.
Still, they are prepared to do this. As Akira said, the reason this band of thieves was founded was to tear down this distorted dog-eat-dog world and create a peaceful new one. If they do this, there will no longer be a need for the Phantom Thieves to stick around. With that, everyone gathered together the next day and dove straight into the heart of Mementos itself for their final heist.
xxx
The Phantom Thieves are resting in a Safe Room in the Depths of Mementos, which seems to be a gargantuan prison in which the prisoners, members of the public, watch over their own captivity, and surrender all ability to think for themselves, but somehow call it "True Freedom". The inmates call it "The Prison of Regression".
Beyond that point is the most unstable mass of distortion they have every seen, which means the core of Mementos, its Treasure, is just up ahead. They need to be prepared for anything that may be waiting for them, so they take one last rest.
As he is resting, Akira looks over to Ann, who is sitting by herself. He can't help but think about the fight they had a couple days ago.
You'd realize that if you'd stop acting like such a FUCKING BLONDE AIRHEAD!
"I still can't believe I said that…!" he groans to himself as he grips his hair. "Dumbass!" Just the thought of those words made everything hurt. She's been avoiding him ever since that night. No call, no chats, not even a hello at the station. The only time she talks to him is when they're with their friends and she has to in order to keep up the act. Proof that her acting skills are getting better.
That aside, he had no idea what was coming up next. Obviously, it was going to be extremely dangerous. So before that, he had to talk to her and fix this. After all, he wasn't very clear about what he meant when he said what he did.
Akira takes a deep breath and walks over to her.
"H-Hey uh… Ann…?" He really wanted to call her "Annie", but she made it clear that she didn't want him to call her that right now. She turns to him.
"Oh. Hey." No emotion. Deadpan, as expected. Akira scratches his head, feeling the awkward tension between them.
"U-Um… H-How are you holding up? Tired at all? Hungry?" She shakes her head.
"No. I'm good." This was very uncomfortable. Talking to her when she was obviously mad at him was disorienting. Best way to stop it was to just get straight to the point. That's what he thought.
"O-Okay, listen. A-About what happened the other night-" She turns away.
"Stop. I don't wanna talk about this right now," she said in a cold tone.
"B-But…!" She stands up.
"Look… We'll have all the time in the world once we get this last job done. Right now, we need to focus… don't we?" He really hated to admit it, but Akira knew she was right. If they don't tear this Palace down and they get arrested, they'll never be able to fix this mess between them. He didn't want to go into this with them at odds, but he doesn't really have a choice.
He lets out a deep sigh.
"... Okay… You're right…" Ann nods and walks away.
"Good… Ready to go when you are…" All the frizzy haired "criminal" could do now was focus the task at hand and aim for what comes after…
xxx
Except now… it doesn't seem like there will be an after now.
The Phantom Thieves had made it down to the very heart of the Palace to find that the Treasure is a massive, sentient, golden gauntlet that calls itself the Holy Grail, granter of the world's wishes. They attempted to destroy it time and time again. However, not only is it extremely powerful, but the inmates of the Prison Palace are granting it infinite strength through their subconscious belief in it. No matter how much damage they do, the Treasure heals itself instantaneously.
Everyone tries to catch their breath as the inmates openly shun them for attacking the Holy Grail.
Stop that, you thieves!
Get out of here~! Get out of here~! Get out of here~! Get out of here~!
It's the same zombified chant over and over again in eerie cries. It fills the entire team with despair, Joker, most of all, since he was the most open about his loathing for this way of thinking.
"T-They're… seriously okay with this?" he mumbles. "They… want to be trapped in this place forever?" Mona shakes his head.
"If this is really how people feel…" Mona dreads. "There's no way we'll be able to steal their hearts… We… We've come here for nothing…" Noir cover her mouth.
"This is horrible!" The Holy Grail's shine intensifies.
"You imbeciles are intoxicated by an undesired "justice"," it says with its godlike voice. "This is the will of the children of man who have fallen into sloth. My shine is proof that they desire my existence. As long as humanity yearns for me, I will never perish." Queen's eyes widen with disbelief.
"Is this really what every wants…?" she asks. "To stop thinking and be guided by the Holy Grail…?" Joker's anger starts to leak out. This possibility disgusts him more than anything else.
"LIKE HELL IT IS! There's no way I'd be okay with that! It's downright wrong, isn't it?!" Queen balls up her hands into fist.
"Yes… It's so frustrating, it makes me want to cry… But I… I will never agree!" Mona glares at the Holy Grail.
"The humans I look up to aren't like that… No matter how painful reality is, it's all over if you don't to change how things are! I'm not the only one who believe that. Everyone here agrees… We don't want to turn back into the people we used to be! That's why we've risked our lives coming here!" Everyone turns to their feline friend.
"Mona-chan…" Noir mumbles. Panther smiles and nods.
"He's right!"
"Humanity already wishes for their distortions to be actualized. I am merely the being that will ultimately grant those wishes. Now, it is time I refrain from my place in this world, and begin to encroach upon reality itself." The Holy Grail begins to glow brighter and charge up power.
"That's a load of shit!" Skull barks.
"Encroach…?" Queen repeats. "What is it going to do…?"
"Hey, this doesn't look good!" Panther shouts.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Oracles says.
"Mona, what should we do?!" Fox asks.
"I don't know what you are," Mona says to the Holy Grail. "But you can't keep arbitrarily deciding all this on your own. Humans aren't all stupid like you say they are!" The Holy Grail laughs at Mona's statement.
"Hmph. Indolent, foolish humans. You shall offer your hearts to me…" Joker glares at the Treasure with the intensity of a thousand suns.
"I'll never do that…" he snarls. "A world where people stop thinking for themselves isn't a free one like you say they believe! Someone who surrenders their cognition and free will to turn away from suffering isn't even human anymore! They're just a damn puppet submitting to the will of their puppetmaster! You're seriously gonna make a world like that…?" His rages calls forth his most powerful Persona, Satan.
"I'LL NEVER LET YOU DO THAT! NO WAY IN HELL!" Satan fires all of the most powerful elemental attacks at once at the Holy Grail, Joker roaring as his puts his entire soul into it. Once again, the wishes of the inmates heal endlessly to keep it from being destroyed.
Begone!
Joker suddenly feels his strength leaving him, forcing Satan to return, and clenches his heart.
"Ngh.. ugh… H-Huh…?"
Wretched scum! You're nothing but pure evil!
His body starts burning up inside and he's forced to take a knee, to the surprise of the Phantom Thieves. Panther rushes over to him.
"Joker?!"
You're a curse on this Earth! Burn!
Black and red flames suddenly burst from him and he thrashes around on the ground, screaming in agony.
"The hell?! What's happening to him?!" Skull shouts. Everyone notices the inmates chanting something with malicious intent.
DE~MON~! DE~MON~! DE~MON~! DE~MON~! DE~MON~! DE~MON~! DE~MON~! DE~MON~!
Joker suddenly feels every part of his body being crushed by invisible chains. He gasps for air as he feels one of them constrict around his neck.
"Are the inmates doing this?!" Queen asks. Panther wraps her arms around him.
"NO! PLEASE! STOP IT!" The Holy Grail finishes charging, fires a massive ray at the Phantom Thieves, and they are blown away by the explosion, leaving them sprawled out on the floor and, to his surprise, Akira forced out of his Phantom Thief suit.
What the…? My… powers…! The grail's gears start to spin.
"Now, the time for the fusion has come…"
As they try to push themselves back up, the group notices the ground start to disappear.
"Hey!" Fox shouts. "The ground's-"
"It's… vanishing?!" Noir gasps.
"Hell no!" Skull yells. Before they can even act everyone is engulfed by a bright light.
xxx
Everyone falls on their butts on concrete. Ann gently rubs hers as she gets up.
"Ow… Is everyone okay?!" They all get to their feet.
"Ow… Of course we are!" Ryuji says. As Akira tries to shake off the daze on his brain, Futaba notices everyone's attire.
"Oh…! Hey, our clothes are back to normal!" Everyone looks at themselves in shock, then Mona notices something bigger that's amiss.
"Look!" Everyone looks around the see a familiar sight.
"Huh…? Shibuya…?" Haru asks.
"We're back?!" Yusuke shouts in confusion. Mona looks down to the ground.
"We didn't come back by yourselves though… We must've been driven out by the Holy Grail." Makoto turns to her leader in fear.
"Hey… did we lose…?" Akira shakes his head.
"No… I-I don't understand…" Everyone stares at the face of their confused leader. Ann is the one who draws the final conclusion.
"... I think we just did…" Akira's eyes pop at her comment. She really just said that. He then notices everyone else start hanging their heads in defeat.
"... Right…" Makoto sighs. Akira shakes his head in utter disbelief. He simply refuses to accept it. There's no way they just put everything on the line against the will of the world… and lost.
Suddenly, everyone feels rain start to drop from the sky, but when they look up, its a pinkish red. Akira then notices a black spot under Ann and sees something about to erupt from it.
"LOOK OUT!"
"WHOA!" He tackles her out of the way of whatever comes out. The two look back and see that its a giant bone. But not just any bone…
"Hold on…!" Akira says. "Isn't that one of the bones from Mementos?!" Everyone looks up to see countless other bones erupting out of the ground, covering the city, and piercing the cloudy, blood red sky.
"Mementos, here in Shibuya?!" Makoto gasps. "Is this what it meant by the fusion?!" Mona's fur starts standing on end as everyone's eyes widen and Akira and Ann stand back up.
"To think this would happen…" he mumbles.
"No way!" Ryuji gasps. "You gotta be shittin' me!" As everyone is staring at the sky, Akira notices another problem.
"Wait… What's wrong with the people?" Everyone looks around and sees that the public is going about their lives like normal, as if oblivious to their surroundings.
Man, what great weather. Wanna go for a drive?
Hello? Yes, it's about tomorrow's preliminary meeting…
The announcement for the new smartphone's tonight!
What were the Phantom Thieves all about anyway?
Oh man, hearing that brings back memories! I feel so dumb for even believing they existed!
It was fun news, though. Well, I doubt anyone believes they're around anymore.
"Why isn't anyone noticing this abnormality?!" Yusuke asks.
"It's probably because they don't feel that it's odd," Makoto hypothesizes.
"Wait… Is that Holy Grail doing this?!" Akira asks.
As everyone is looking around, Futaba suddenly collapses to her knees.
"Futaba…?!" Akira gasps. Ryuji kneels down to her.
"What's wrong?!" Futaba rubs her head as she tries to catch her breath, her eyes hazy.
"Ugh… I-I feel… woozy… Ngh…" Ann rushes over to her and offers her hand.
"Futaba, grab on- … Ngh!" Ann falls to the ground next, much to Akira and Haru's shock.
"Ann?!"
"Ann-chan? Ngh!" Both them feel dizzy and fall to the ground. Ryuji, Yusuke, Makoto, and Mona follow soon after.
"Is this… by the Holy Grail too?!" Makoto asks. Ryuji struggle his way to a knee.
"That son of a bitch!" he barks. "God dammit! What's this creepy ass shit all abou- Aagh!" He suddenly falls forwards. When he tries to get up, fear overwhelms him when he sees his left hand being burned by black flames and turning transparent down his arm.
"Aaaaaaaaaaagh! M-MY… MY HAND!" Ann's eyes widen in horror at the sight as she tries to get up.
"R-Ryuji- Ngh!" She falls on her side and see that the same thing is happening to her legs, much to Akira's dismay while his left hand and legs are disappearing as well.
"ANN!" Makoto stares at her disappearing hand in fear.
"T-This can't be real, right?!" Yusuke and Haru's arms are disappearing.
"W-What is… happening to us…?!"
"N-No…! No!" Futaba is on the verge of crying as she stares at herself.
"M-My body's… disappearing…!" Mona tries to push himself up.
"Don't tell me…" Everyone hears an evil laugh coming from the clouds. It's the voice of the Holy Grail.
"Hmhmhmhmhm. Indeed. This isn't my doing. You imbeciles are about to disappear from the people's cognition."
"That damn voice…!" Ryuji hisses.
"Mementos and reality have become one… Thus, those who have disappeared from cognition cannot exist anywhere."
"Disappear, my ass! What the hell?!... AAAAAAAG-" Akira and Ann are forced to watch him vanish in a plume of black smoke.
"RYUJI?!"
"NO!" Yusuke and Futaba are inevitably the next to go, Futaba covering her head and screaming.
"Is this… really it…?! Nuah-"
"No! NOOOO-" Akira's heart dropped like an anchor at the sight of his baby sister vanishing.
"FUTABA!" Makoto, with a tear rolling down her face, turns to Mona before disappearing.
"Morgana… where did we… go… wron-" Mona is forced to watch as Haru, who was too shocked to say anything, vanishes next, leave him, Akira, and Ann left. Tears start flooding down his face as he ponders his actions.
"I-Is this… all my fault…?!" he sobs. "B-Because I… b-b-brought you all there…?!" Ann falls on her back as she and Akira stare at there friend.
"M-Mona…!"
"W-Whatever… this is…" Akira grunts. "It's not… your… fault…!" Mona doesn't seem to listen as he shuts his eyes.
"D-Dammit… I-I-I didn't mean to…! I… A-Akira…! L-L-Lady Ann…!" He takes one last look at them both before meeting the same fate as the others.
"I-I-I'm sorry…! T-The mission's… a… failure…" The two reach out to him, but are unable to save him.
Akira+Ann: "MONAAA!"
Akira's mind goes into chaos as he hangs his head. All of his friends, even his "baby sister". All of them disappeared from right before his eyes. No way to fight back. No way to prevent this tragedy. All of them were just gone.
N-N-No…! Not like this…! It's can't end like this…!
"... T-This… this isn't fair…! I-It's not… fair…! W-W-Why?!" Akira looks up to see a sight he never liked seeing: Tears of sadness streaming down Ann's face. He could look at it a million times and it would still hurt him deeply.
It hurt even more when she shuts her eyes and starts screaming as loud as she can.
"... A-Ann…" They've been together for so long, laughing, playing, having fun. Every moment was pure joy. And it, along with everything else, is about to end.
"... Ann…!" Last time they were alone, they had gotten into a fight that put their relationship on hold… but at this point…
… I DON'T CARE!
"... ANNIE!"
Ann stops crying at the sound of her pet name. She turns her head and her eyes widen at the sight of Akira desperately trying to crawl his way to her with what remains of both of his arms.
"Annie!" No matter what happened, he wanted to face it by her side. That's how much he loves her.
Ann gets the same drive as she rolls onto her stomach and starts crawling towards him. Every memory they had with each other rushed through their minds as they drew closer to each other. When they met, when they talked about Kamoshida, when she joined the Phantom Thieves, when they talked, when they confessed to each other, when they had their first kiss, and everything after that, save the fight. That didn't matter anymore.
Ann suddenly feels her bottom half disappear rapidly. Akira, seeing this, roars as he uses the remains of his legs and arms to launch himself at her and they reach out to each other.
"A-KI-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa…!"
The boy crashes face down on the ground. He looks up and his heart fills with despair when no one is in front of him. There was no sign of her anywhere. She was gone. The only thing that remained was the charm bracelet he gave her for their 3-month anniversary in his right hand. The sight of it makes a tear rolls down his face.
Alone, scared, and slowly of approaching the brink of nonexistence, Akira rolls onto his back and stares at the blood red sky, his eyes slowly losing their light and his consciousness gradually fading away.
… Not… like this…
He slowly lifts his right arm up as his eyelids start to heavy.
… Not like… this…
He reaches his hand out to the sky as his eyelids slowly drop.
… Not… like… this…
Inevitably, he is the last member of the Phantom Thieves to disappear from cognition, leaving the world to fall into inevitable ruin.
xxx
…
…
…
"... ANNIE!"
Akira suddenly wakes up in a cold sweat, his eyes popping out of his head. He takes a moment to catch his breath before shaking off his daze.
"Ugh… What the hell…?" He suddenly notices the familiar chains hanging above him, the color surrounding him, and the feel of shackles on his wrists and a ball and chain on his right foot. He sits up and looks at himself, recognizing the black and white attire.
… Wait… The Velvet Room…?
"... In the end, your rehabilitation was not carried through… It appears I have overestimated you." He looks to his cell door to see Igor shaking his head in disappointment and the twin hanging their heads in sadness. He gets up and walks towards the door.
"Igor… and the twins… Wait, what happened?" He's sure he disappeared, but he ended up here. So...
"And if I'm here, where did my friends go?!" Igor just closes his eyes and chuckles. Akira jumps back when Caroline slams the bars with her baton.
"YOU INCOMPETENT PRISONER!" she roars. Justine shakes her head.
"The assistance that we provided was all for naught," she sighs.
"Humans are more apathetic… and more foolish than I had thought them to be. The world will soon see its ruin…" Akira was hearing with the stooped old man was saying, but he had something more important on his mind. He grabs the bars, feeling a mysterious force tugging on his heart.
"Hey, you didn't answer my question. Where are my friends?" Igor opens his eyes.
"It matters not anymore… You… have lost the game. You were meant to bring change to mankind as a Trickster, but it seems that was too much for you. In accordance to the game's rules, the defeated must pay a price."
"... A price?" The twins turn to their master as a sinister look appeared on his face.
"Yes… The ultimate price… Your life is forfeit." The three's eyes widen at Igor's declaration.
"I sentence you… to be executed." The twins seem the most surprised by their master's judgement.
"...?! ... Executed…?" Caroline repeats in surprise. Igor stands up for the first time as his chair and table disappears.
"God's decree is absolute… My experiment has come to naught. Everything is over." Igor's grins widens as he points at the inmate.
"Girls… it is time for your final duty as wardens… Grant that feeble man a swift death." Reluctant, Caroline sighs and nods.
"... If that's what our master wishes…" Akira turn to her in shock.
"No! You can't be serious!" Caroline glares at him.
"It… It just means you weren't an upstanding prisoner…!" Justine looks down.
"That… may be true… but…"
"What is the matter? Carry out his sentence at once." Justine at her sister with uncertainty.
"... Are we really going to kill him…?" she asks.
"Don't falter now! It's all his fault for losing the game!" Akira shakes his head.
"But I-"
"SHUT IT!" She hits the bars with her electric baton. The door suddenly opens, Caroline dashes behind Akira, and roundhouse kicks him out of his cell, chains and all. Igor snaps his fingers and a guillotine appeared behind him. Akira lifts his head as Igor steps aside and the pint sized twins step in front of the guillotine.
"All right, Inmate. We will now proceed with the sentence of your execution." Akira feels fear creeping into his heart, but he still focuses on what he feels more important.
"I'm not gonna ask you guys again!" he shouts. "Where the hell are my friends?!" Caroline glares at him.
"Oh, would give a rest already?! Didn't you see?! Your little band of go-for-nothing friends are gone! Poofed straight out of cognition! No one will even remember any of you pathetic losers existed!" Even while she says that, Akira can still feel something tugging at his heart. He has felt that every time he thinks about his friends. It even helped him get home from the interrogation room. If that feeling is still there, it has to mean something.
But, in order to find out what that something is, he can't die here.
"There's no point in going on! You lost, and this is what happens to losers! Now be a good be inmate and take your judgement like a man!" Akira shuts his eyes and grits his teeth.
"... Can it…!"
"Huh?" He slams his hands on the ground and glares at Caroline.
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU PINT SIZED, ANNOYING LITTLE SHIT!" The twins are taken aback by Akira's sudden outburst.
"All you two do are is that dumbass old man's lap dogs! You don't even bother to try and speak up if something's bothering you! Why should I believe any of the crap you guys says?!" He slowly pushes himself up.
"I won't accept it… It's not over yet… I'm still conscious and kicking… I can still fight… No matter what you say or how hopeless things…!" He gets to his feet and hunches over, feeling a surge of power in his body. The twins' eyes widen as a blue ring of fire appeared around his feet.
"... I'M NOT GIVING UP, GOD DAMMIT!"
With an explosive roar, Akira blasts off his restraints and he is engulfed in a blue pillar of fire that pierces through the darkness above. When it disappears, Akira is standing tall in his Joker outfit. The door to his cell disappears as he glares at the twins.
"How insolent…!" Caroline hisses. "To think you'd still show your rebellious will after all that!" Joker feels something in his right fist. He holds it out and opens it up to see that Ann's charm bracelet has materialized in his hand with a mysterious glow. The sight of it puts a little smile on his face.
Annie…
Joker closes his hand and his eyes to see almost all of the Phantom Thieves sitting in cells somewhere. His eyes then glow red as he stomps his right foot to summon Satan and prepares for battle.
"They're still alive!" he says. "I know in my heart that they're still alive! So go ahead and try! Nothing's gonna stop me from finding them!" Caroline crosses her arms and turns to her sister.
"Fine by me… Ready, Justine?" Justine bits her lip.
"If our master orders so," she says. "Then it cannot be helped…" Caroline puts on a menacing grin as she points her paton at the persistent rebel.
"Let us show our strength to this… prisoner who just doesn't know when to give up!" Justine nods and glares at Joker.
"... Understood." The two strike a joined pose to prepare for battle.
C+J: "Death to the criminal."
Joker steels his resolve and prepares for what promises to be a tough battle as one thought goes through his mind.
Don't worry… I'm coming, Annie… I'm coming!
Target: Hit