Click
The magazine slid into the rifle with a satisfying sound.
Ca-chunk
The bolt cycled into battery, chambering a round.
She neatly tucked the rest of her ammunition into her coat as she slipped out her phone and placed it on the table.
Now, Kasumi always considered herself to be the easy going, cheerful, optimistic type, despite her background and her true nature,
But she had a score to settle with Kamoshida, as with the rest of the Phantom Thieves, and thus, she allowed herself to indulge in the sin of wrath, a righteous one at that.
The redhead attached her own camera to the end of the rifle, slipped her handgun into her coat, and a few small improvised explosive devices as well.
Once that had been done, she grabbed her phone again, and pressed the app.
"The hell's goin' on here?" Ryuji exclaimed. "Door's wide open, the place's deserted!"
"We did destroy a large chunk of the guards.." Morgana remarked. "Probably undermanned, I doubt anyone wants to work here after our little visits,"
"I dunno." Ann dismissed. "Seems a little too optimistic to me."
"I second that." Ren agreed. "If your palace was attacked on such a large, overt scale.."
"Wouldn't you want to beef up security?" Ren questioned. "I mean, you see a terrorist attack or big criminal event somewhere on the news, and the next day, there's usually armed guards and army men patrolling around."
"True…" Morgana thought. "You've got a point, but this clearly isn't the case here."
"I dunno, still smells like a trap to me." Ryuji replied. "We came a few days ago, and a few days before that, so they would expect us, and this is exactly like how people get ambushed in the movies!"
"You know, they say 'it's quiet, too quiet here,' then the alien jumps out."
"You watch too much of that junk." Ann teased.
"Oh, like you don't." Ryuji retorted. "I know about those all girls sleep-overs you had with Shiho.."
After those words came from Ryuji's mouth, Ren and Morgana stared at the fake blonde, with the look:
" You fucked up."
"...Yeah…." Ann's voice instantly began to falter. "The good times with Shiho… heh…."
An aura of awkward silence soon washed over as Ryuji realized his misstep.
"Ahem!" Ren suddenly raised his usually calm voice. "Let's get back to the mission, we still have a king to checkmate."
"Right, right." Ann replied, her voice regaining power.
"C'mon, follow me," Morgana instructed. "Stay sharp. We don't know what's in store for us…"
And so, the group hurried off deeper into the palace,
Kasumi flexed the mask on her face. It felt a bit awkward, but she figured she could adjust to it.
She peered over the edge of the rafters she was situated on, staring down into the atrium of the palace.
"Come in Joker, this is Violet." The redhead tapped her earpiece. "Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear…" A reply came over. " You set up?"
"I am." Kasumi confirmed.
" What's the situation?" He asked.
"All clear, nothing I can see." She answered. "I don't like it, feels like-"
" An ambush?" Ren finished the sentence. " That's what we think too, But we don't really have much choice to get the treasure."
"That's okay." Kasumi spoke. "I'll be covering you if they do strike."
' Thanks. Joker out."
Kasumi sighted down her rifle, and began tracking the group below.
"Aww yeah!" Morgana jumped in joy. "That's the treasure!"
Above a small mound of gold, was a somewhat comically oversized crown.
"...Hey, wasn't this on his head last time?" Ryuji furrowed his brow. "And regular sized?"
"It's weird that it's suddenly unguarded and out in the open…" Ann frowned.
"T-treasure…" The words fell on deaf ears as Morgana was fully engrossed with the treasure, with mouth watering, and pupils widening.
" Meeeoww… "
" Mrroowww…"
"... I don't feel comfortable…" Ann deadpanned.
"Hey... Does he always do this!?" Ryuji asked with great concern.
"Hold on." Ren answered nonchalantly, straightening his outfit. "Can I borrow that?" He pointed to Ryuji's pipe.
BONK
"Owww… Oughh…" Morgana groaned.
"Problem solved." Ren passed the weapon back.
"W-what happened?" Morgana asked, slightly dazed. "Ogh.."
"You were going crazy with the treasure…" Ann spoke.
"Right, right," Morgana rubbed his head. "Forgive me for such insolence, especially in front of a lady."
"Yeah, yeah," Ann dismissed. "What do we do next?"
"Right!" Morgana snapped. "We need to get it out of here."
"Specifically, you guys need to carry it out of here."
"..Aww, C'mon." Ryuji groaned in dismay, "All you do is order us around."
"Still, easier than I thought." He remarked.
"... We're still not out of the woods yet, though." Morgana began. "We could still be ambushed getting out of the palace."
"... Wouldn't lugging that thing leave us defenseless?" Ann pointed out.
"I'll escort you guys out." Morgana countered.
"...Hang on, I have an idea." Ren spoke.
Ren took out his handgun, and approached one of the treasure chests in the mound of treasure and gold. He flicked the safety on, and began to smash the box with the grip of the weapon.
"What are you doing!?". Ann asked.
"You'll see." Ren replied.
He soon pried free two planks from the chest with his knife, and tossed them out.
"We'll put the crown on these and use it as a sled." He explained. "We'll use the grappling hooks to pull it."
"Now that way, we can move it more efficiently and without dropping our guard too much."
"Hmm, now we're talking." Ryuji scratched his chin.
"Nice, fast thinking Joker!" Morgana complemented.
With some help, Ren lifted the crown and placed it onto the planks, before fastening grappling hooks and dragging the whole thing in a three person team while Morgana acted as escort.
However, only known to Ren and Morgana, there was another set of eyes protecting the operation.
" We're coming out now, keep us clear."
"Understood, senpai." Kasumi affirmed, as she scanned the area with her rifle.
Specifically, the main atrium of the throne room, between the back route where Ren and the rest of the group would be appearing, and the main entrance and exit.
RUMBLE
Suddenly, there was a loud noise from the main gate of the palace. It was closing.
"Joker, this is Violet. Something's happening, the main gate is dropping shut. There's probably an ambush." Kasumi wasted no time in calling in.
" Understood Violet." Came the reply.
"Come on! Just a little further now!" Ren groaned as he led the pulling team in dragging the massive crown.
"Aight." Ryuji panted. "Gimme a moment.." He knelt down and massaged his bad leg.
"Gotcha." Ann replied. "You alright?" She turned to Ryuji.
As Ann and Ryuji were somewhat distracted, Ren seized the moment, drew his firearm and turned to Morgana, crouching down.
"We uh, might have company ahead." He informed, with a hushed tone.
"Really? Damn." Morgana muttered, drawing his own sword. "So what's the plan?"
"...We could take a detour…." Ren suggested.
In response, Morgana shrugged, " Anything goes, I guess. Your call."
"Well then," Ren turned to the back. "Hey guys!"
"We're gonna have a little change of plans.."
" All clear senpai, you can go on through.."
"Copy that.." Ren mumbled into his earpiece, before darting ahead, with gun in hand. True to her word, the balcony was clear.
"Damn, so the entrance is locked." Ryuji walked up, peering over the railing. "Guess you made the right call with the window exit."
"We can also get a better look around up here." Ren joined Ryuji in overlooking the palace atrium.
"Getting the crown up was a pain in the ass, though." Ann rubbed her back as she walked over. "So what are we lookin at here?"
"A way to get out of here." Morgana jumped up onto the railing.
"Y'know, I've probably said this before.." Ann began, "But I can't get over how much I hate the decor of the palace. The man has no taste whatsoever."
"For starters, there's like, barrels and treasure chests lying everywhere, I'm pretty sure they have storage rooms here. Also, most of the place is just a glorified strip club."
"I don't think they've even been maintaining the place properly, a good chunk of this damn place smells like mold and rust." Ryuji commented.
"Tell me about it." Morgana snarked. "His cells are even worse, their excuse for toilets is just a hole in the ground."
"Ugh." Ann grimaced. "I don't like that picture… I wanna move on now."
"In that case…" Ren began. "Right this way.." He held the door open as the crown was dragged through with the group.
" Thanks Violet." He whispered into his earpiece.
" No problem." Came the reply.
The next part the group needed to traverse through, was where the weight room would be in the real Shujin academy. It was filled with exercise equipment of all types, and overlooked the gym itself, with windows allowing people to peer down.
"...Hey, this place's larger than I remember." Ryuji remarked. "I used to go here alot when I could actually run around."
"...Maybe, because Kamoshida is a gym teacher…" Morgana hypothesized. "This place is bigger because it's more important to him..."
Instead of the usual gym equipment, the room was fashioned as a sort of planning room, with a large table in the center, maps and pictures were scattered about. Great suits of armour guarded the entrances.
Ann walked up to the table and picked up a picture.
"What's this-Oh." Ann quickly tore the picture up and tossed it aside. " Of course it's porn… " She grumbled.
"W-what!?" Ryuji turned over.
"Carmen, could you burn everything on this table?" Ann summoned her persona.
Soon, everything on the table was aflame.
"Okay everyone, nothing to see here." Ann told the others. "Let's move on."
"I'm not sure setting the table on fire is a good idea…" Ren frowned.
" Go! Go! Let's go, Kamoshida!" A voice came from the halls.
"Huh!?" The group collectively reacted.
BANG !
"Get down!" Ren shouted, as the thieves dove behind the table for cover.
"What the hell just happened!?" Ryuji cried.
Suddenly, Ren's earpiece crackled to life.
" Senpai! You've got company !" A frantic Kasumi alerted. Gunfire could be heard in the background.
As the dust settled, Ren looked up from his cover, and saw a massive hole in the wall perpendicular to where they had been going.
"Hey guys!" Morgana yelled. "The treasure!"
As Ren turned around, the crown was gone.
The grappling hooks used to tow the thing lay detached and scattered on the ground with the large windows directly behind shattered and broken.
It was as if a massive bowling ball had gone through the room, penetrating one wall, striking the crown like a pin and carrying them both out the other side. However, the group had little time to absorb what had transpired before…
"Well, well, well." A familiar voice soon interrupted the group. "To what do I owe the pleasure, my insufferable guests?"
A figure walked through the hole in the wall.
"Goddamnit." Ann snarled, turning around. "Kamoshida, you sonuvabitch!"
"You were waiting for us, weren't you, you fuckin' pervert." Ryuji spat, grabbing his shotgun and pressing up behind cover.
"But of course." Kamsohida sneered. "What King would I be, if I didn't know the art of arriving fashionably late?"
"But seriously, I was expecting you to leave at the front gate."
"No matter though," Kamoshida assured. "I can still have my fun in here." He pulled up a glass of wine.
A group of palace guards soon joined the King, flanking him, along with a scantily clad Ann Takamaki.
"Guards, show these peasants their place." He ordered, before turning around.
The shadows brandished their swords and spears.
"You can surrender, or die where you stand." The King jostled his wine glass. "Resistance is futile. More guards are arriving as we speak."
"Like hell we're giving up!" Ryuji shouted.
"We ain't going quietly. Not to the likes of you." Ann declared.
"We sent you packing once." Morgana spoke. "We'll do it again."
"Tch!" The King seethed. "As you wish then."
He then grabbed the version of Ann by his side.
"Come along now, there's something of mine I need back.."
Before departing and leaving a small army of roughly twenty guards surrounding the group.
Which promptly began to close in.
"Get back Lady Ann!" Morgana ordered.
"H-hey, I can do this myself you know!" The blonde replied.
"Yo!". Ryuji slid beside Ren, who was huddled behind cover and facing the corner. "You've been awfully quiet for a while! These guys look stronger than the last ones! What the hell's the plan!?"
"Well, the plan…" Ren turned to face Ryuji, who was surprised to see two lit pipe bombs in Ren's possession. "Is to… go out with a bang."
"HEY!" Ren shouted, popping out. "CATCH THIS!"
BOOM
Ren promptly tossed the explosives into the crowd of guards, the ensuing explosion immediately sending shockwaves through the ranks, thinning the numbers. Ren himself was thrown back.
Splinters of wood, dust, and other debris choked the air. All hell broke loose. A brawl was surely brewing.
"THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Ann yelled, drawing her gun.
"WE WOULD'VE LIKED A WARNING!" Morgana added, brandishing his sword, and immediately locking blades with a rather stunned shadow.
"MY BAD!" Ren called as he parried a spear with his knife, before nailing a point blank shot with his handgun. "MISTIMED THE FUSE!"
BOOM
"TALK LATER! FIGHT NOW!" Ryuji jumped up, and racked his shotgun, pumping out a jet of flame with his dragon's breath rounds. Sparks flew off of shield and armour as one guard was blown back, smashing into another.
PEW
PEW
Firing his gun, Ren ducked under a wild swing from a guard, rolling past the shadow, before plunging his blade into its back, causing the being to writhe in pain, before keeling over.
"INTRUDER!" Three shadows spun around, but-
BOOM
"JOKER I GOT YOUR BACK!" Ann emerged out of a wave of fire, gun in hand with the faint outline of Carmen shadowing behind.
"THANK-LOOK OUT!" Ren spun around past Ann, and smashed his knife into the oncoming blade of another assailant, metal against metal, shooting up sparks.
BANG
A quick shot from Ann ended the threat.
BOOM
"Need a little help here!" Ryuji grimaced, shell casings dropped to the ground as he relentlessly pumped his weapon.
"I've got you!" Morgana leapt up from the periphery, slashing those who focused on the fake blonde. The small stature of the not-a-cat played to his advantage as the Shadows were unable to counter the threat, lest they be blown apart by Ryuji.
BANG
Another pipe bomb went off in the background.
"WE NEED TO END THIS!" A hand grabbed Ryuji's back, who nearly opened fire before realizing it was Ren.
ALL OUT ATTACK
CRACK
CRACK
BOOM
A concentrated fusillade of lead cut down the remaining handful of Shadows.
"THIS I-ISN"T OVER." A mortally wounded guard lay on the floor. "COME OVER HERE AND FIGHT!"
"Fight!?" Ann asked in confusion. "You're missing an arm and both your legs!"
Of course, being Shadows, there was a lack of gore, but twelve gauge shotgun rounds did not do nice things to limbs.
"No it isn't!" The Shadow protested.
"... What's that then?" Ryuji pointed to the guard's detached limbs.
The Shadow looked over.
"I've had worse. Tis' but a scratch!"
"Hold on.." Ren spoke up, rubbing his forehead. "I've seen this somewhere before…"
"J-just ignore him, we don't have time for this."
"He's right." Morgana spoke. "Who knows where Kamoshida has gone!"
And with that, the group passed by the downed guard. Faint cries of "You yellow bastards! Running away!? Come back here!"
Besides the treasure, Ren had another pressing issue.
" Come in Violet! Do you read me!?"
BANG
The floor was littered with empty brass casings.
A shaky hand reached for the earpiece answer button.
"L-loud and clear" Kasumi panted, her breath quivering.
"You alright?" Ren asked. "You sound dead tired."
"Y-you can say that." She agreed. "I just took out about fifty of them."
Beyond the railing, and several floors below, the ground was decorated with a plethora of defeated Palace guards, all with neatly placed holes in the sides of their helmets. All of them were originally destined for Ren and the others.
"I'm running out of ammo." Kasumi reported. "I'll still try to help though."
"They just keep coming…" Kasumi thought.
"SECURITY ALERT! REINFORCEMENTS TO THE PALACE WAR ROOM! LOCKDOWN IN FIVE SECONDS!"
" Goddamnit."
"HEH!?" Ryuji exclaimed as the PA system blared an alarm.
SWHUMP
"The hell?" Ryuji remarked as reinforced steel doors slammed over and covered every door in the room.
Ren's eyes darted rapidly. He reached for the earpiece. "Violet, I need eyes."
He did not like what he heard, but she helped him formulate a plan.
"There's no locks on these." Morgana realized. They couldn't be picked.
"FOR THE KING!" Came calls from outside.
"They weren't kidding about a lockdown.." Ann muttered. "You got any ideas?" She turned to Ren.
"I got one." Ren pulled out his grappling hook and looked at the shattered windows. "Now, I need you to bear with me here…."
"THIS IS CRAZY!" Morgana yelled as they jumped.
But his words fell on deaf ears.
With hooks attached to the massive chandelier above the centre of the atrium, the only hope of escape was straight down to the ground floor.
Swarms of guards ascended the grand stairs where Kamoshida gave his speech during the last infiltration.
"HERE WE GO!" Ren yelled as wind rushed through his hair. They were descending ever faster.
And then came the tug, the line pulled taut and descent slowed as the mechanism of the grappling hook took over in controlling their descent.
"AH!" Morgana nearly slid off Ren's back.
"THERE THEY ARE!" Came the shout of a guard.
BANG
BANG
Ann was already on point, shooting with one hand while holding on for dear life with the other.
"WATCH IT!" Ryuji twirled about the grappling hook, dodging spears and other flying projectiles.
BANG
BANG
Ren joined in the suppression fire.
Attacks of all kinds, elemental, projectile came flying through the air as the group dodged and weaved. All the while guards moved to the base of the staircase ready to intercept.
"GET THEM! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"
"JOKER! RIGHT SIDE!"
"Argh!" A spear grazed Ren's hand.
BANG
BANG
He replied in kind. Stray shots flew everywhere as another shadow lined up for a shot.
But then a laser dot danced onto it.
BANG
"ARGH!" The Shadow stumbled back from the shot, before tumbling over the railing to the ground below.
"HOLY SHIT!" Ryuji exclaimed.
CREAK
An ominous groan came from the chandelier.
"Guys! The ground!" Ann yelled from the left.
With knees bent, the group hit the floor, before doing a roll to cushion the landing. Almost immediately, they freed their grappling hooks and pulled back, away from the staircase and horde of bloodthirsty shadows.
"CHARGE!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
Ren reached for his earpiece again.
"Violet, the honors, please."
Several floors above, Kasumi loaded her last few bullets, and aimed at the chandelier.
BANG
With a couple of sparks, the chandelier hurtled towards earth.
"FOR REAL!?" Ryuji shouted as the chandelier grew bigger.
"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR FUCKING LIFE!" Ann yelled.
"TOO LATE! GET DOWN!" Ren yelled. In the blink of an eye, Ren threw himself over Morgana, as did Ryuji with Ann.
BOOM
Glass shards, dust and debris choked the air as the entire staircase collapsed along with the pursuing palace guards.
Ren hacked and coughed. "Is everyone alright!?"
"Agh!" Ryuji rolled over. There were shards of glass embedded across his body.
"Mona!" Ren shouted as the not-a-cat ran over to begin healing.
"Jesus!" Ann panted, before getting up. "Oh my god!" She cried in English.
" SENPAI! ARE YOU OKAY!?"
"I'm alright!" Ren snapped in response. "I'm okay!"
"How is he!?" Ren turned to Morgana.
"He's just fine, his outfit is armoured, it took the worst of it." Morgana spoke. "He's just burned out."
"JOKER! HE'S COMING!" A sudden alert came from Ren's earpiece.
"Bravo! Bravo!" A familiar voice and applause could be heard. "Amazing performance! I didn't know you had it in you!"
Emerging from the dust and ruin, was King Kamoshida, with the crown on head.
"I was hoping you'd make it this far, after all, the best is yet to come." He smirked. "I do believe you've had enough fun destroying my palace, because it's my turn to do the destroying."
"And more destroying in bed with my Ann." The King turned to his right, and the scantily clad version of Ann walked up.
"Well, if it isn't the son of a bitch himself." Ren began. He subtly reached for the small bodycam on his chest. "Finally got the balls to have a little heart to heart?"
"Tch, I know one of you knows I do, isn't that right?" The King turned to the actual Ann.
Click
"I've had enough of these fucking games." Ann drew her gun. A fire burned in her eyes.
"Oh, so soon?" The king mocked. "You were fine playing my games if it meant that Shiho stuck around."
"I should've realized it sooner." Ann lamented. "But we are not your playthings, we don't need your permission to live our lives!" Tears began streaming out now.
"Why not?" The King replied. "The adults who want to share my accomplishments, the students with the drive to become winners do."
"That's why I'm a King, and you're all pawns. I have the final word, I'm not like you. I'm a cut above the rest."
"ABOVE!?" Ann was about to squeeze the trigger. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A DESPICABLE SCUMBAG !"
The King laughed. "You people always make such baseless accusations, WE"LL SEE!" A distortion flooded his voice.
BANG
BANG
BANG
A rapid succession of gunshots came from Ann, but had little effect.
Red burst up from where he stood. And his monstrous true form was unmasked.
"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON!?" Ryuji cried out from the back, standing up on shaky legs.
"NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" The demon laughed. "NOW YOU BRATS WILL SUFFER!"
"NO TIME TO HOLD BACK NOW!" Ren barked, immediately producing more pipe bombs and molotovs.
"MOVE!" Ryuji tackled Ren as one of the king's appendages smashed down where they were standing.
Ann pushed up to cover the other's temporary retreat.
"EAT THIS YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" The blonde charged in, pumping out blasts of fire.
As she relented on her persona usage, she swapped to her sidearm.
BANG
BANG
BANG
Hollow point rounds tore into flesh, with destructive results. The King lacked the thick armour of his guards, which made the ammunition all the more effective.
BANG
BANG
BANG
Click
"MONA!" Ann called out.
"GOTCHA!" He replied, sliding in with slingshot pellets flying as Ann darted out.
"Shit! You okay!" Ryuji got off of Ren.
"Just peachy here! Thanks." Ren replied. He then noticed his explosives were scattered about from the tackle. "Gimme a moment, I'm gonna go get them." And so he scampered off.
Ryuji tried to protest, but a more pressing matter emerged.
"I'LL KILL YOU LITTLE WORMS!" THe King roared. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
"NOT TODAY YOU WILL!" Ryuji vectored in, launching pyrotechnics with his gun. The smell of charred flesh began to fill the air.
"I'm gonna need you to shoot the crown off." Ren spoke into his earpiece as he ran. He glanced back at Ryuji, who was darting between the King's attacks.
Continuous combat was out of the question. The Thieves had neither the energy nor resources for that, so hit and run tactics was the modus operandi.
"He's moving so damn wildly, I'm gonna need you to distract him or something.."
"Understood." Ren replied.
"SHIHO! GET ME MY BALL! I NEED THE KILLSHOT!" The King suddenly roared.
" Wha -SHIHO!?" Ann exclaimed as a scantily clad version of Shiho rushed to Kamoshida's side.
"I've got your ball my lord!" She served it to the beast.
"THAT'S NOT THE REAL HER!" Morgana yelled. "THAT"S KAMOSHIDA"S VERSION! TAKE HER OUT BEFORE-"
"GET DOWN!" Ren leapt to cover the not-a-cat before the King launched his attack, scattering the group.
"Shit!" Ren exclaimed.
BANG
"I GOT HER!"
Ren looked up just as the fake Shiho disintegrated.
BOOM
BOOM
"GODDAMNIT!"
Ryuji pumped his weapon back as the last shell fell out. It was his turn to fall back, but the damage had been done.
"STOP USING YOUR FUCKING VICTIMS AS WEAPONS!" He roared.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
"ARGH!" The King howled. "GAH! I NEED HEALING!" And so he reached for the gold cup in front of him.
" SENPAI!" A frantic call came. "THAT CUP IN FRONT OF HIM NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED!"
"I read you!" Ren jumped up and started to run, before he leapt and tossed a pipe bomb into the king's golden chalice.
Just as the cup reached the King's lips..
BANG
A massive explosion ripped it apart, sending shrapnel into the King's face.
AHHHH!
An ear splitting screech soon followed, causing everyone to plug their ears. However, the sheer power caused the group to fall over or be forced on their knees.
"NOO!" The King shrieked. "THAT WAS FROM WHEN I WON THE NATIONALS!"
"Considering the size of that thing,' Ann began, ears ringing and looking worse for wear. "Seems like you were compensating for something!"
"DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT!?" The King roared. "YOU"RE DAMN WRONG! LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'VE THOUGHT ABOUT!"
"Ooh! I don't think that!" Ann shot back. "I know you're compensating!"
"YOU DARE!" The King's rage reached new heights.
"Oh, I dare." A voice whispered from several floors above. Her finger squeezed the trigger.
BANG
And the crown flew off.
"End this Joker." Kasumi reached for her earpiece.
"WHAT!?" Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana turned to Ren. The former two with great surprise. Ren simply gave a dangerous grin.
FINISH HIM
A barrage of all of Ren's remaining explosives and incendiaries soared towards the King, ripping him apart.
AAAHH
With one final screech, the king was put in check, buckling over and crashing into the ground. His monstrous form fading.
The crown, now normal size, rolled towards the exhausted and battered group.
Ryuji was resting one arm across Ann, one of his legs giving out.
"Hey," Ryuji turned to Ann, panting. "Can I borrow that?" He pointed to his handgun.
A desperate King Kamoshida soon scampered into view, clawing for his crown.
BANG
"GAH!"The King howled. Blood ran down his leg.
"Y-you little bastards!" The king moaned. "My leg!"
"That's a little score settled." Ryuji blew the smoke off Ann's gun and handed it back to her.
Ren approached the fallen king. "You know, you forget that even the lowest of pawns can checkmate a King."
"Give us a reason we shouldn't blow your brains out," Ann menaced. "Right here, right now."
"P-please! Spare me!." The King bowed his head. "I-I-I accept defeat."
He tossed his crown over.
"You want this? Take it." His voice was shaky and desperate. "You shoot, and so goes my real self. Please don't."
"...Pathetic." Ann spat. You know…" She scratched her chin, "I'm very, very tempted to shoot. Where one of my parents comes from, they have a little thing called frontier justice over there, but I'd rather see you rot in a prison cell, I hear they fancy rapists over there."
"T-then what, what do I do now?' The King asked.
"Confess your crimes. The world needs to know." Ren answered.
"A-alright." The King answered. "I shall return to my real self."
A flash of light enveloped the king, and he was no more.
"Alright, good job team.." Morgana smiled.
"We need to run now."
On cue, the palace began shaking.
"W-what's happening?" Ryuji looked around.
"The palace is falling apart!" Ren explained as the group began running. "We steal their heart, the house comes crashing down!"
He grabbed Ryuji's other arm.
"Let's go!"
Parts of the palace which weren't destroyed yet followed suit, pieces of the ceiling came down.
High above, a gymnast zoomed around falling debris, and aimed for a window, the one the group originally planned to exit out of,
And made her own exfiltration.
A cold breeze of air washed over Ren, reviving him. The orange setting sun shone brightly.
"Welcome back. Destination has been deleted." The phone announced.
"Oh!" Ann groaned as she got up. She looked around, and dusted off her clothes. "Well that sucked."
"You can say that again." Ryuji added.
"Hey, where's the treasure?" A black feline jumped up.
At this moment, Ren felt a lump where he sat. Reaching down, he pulled out a gold medal.
"A medal?" Ann furrowed her brow. "Where'd the crown go?"
"That is the crown." Morgana spoke. "The crown was his perception of his medal. It's not a crown in real life of course, but he isn't a King here."
"Well now, he ain't a king there either." Ren pointed out.
"He must've held on to his past glory and wouldn't let go huh." Ryuji realized.
"His heart surely would be changed now." Ann asked. "Right?"
"Probably. It does take some time." Morgana answered. "I think it's best we wait and see until tomorrow."
".. I agree. I feel like shit after that." Ryuji massaged his leg. "I just wanna go home."
"I think it's best if we lay low and slip out." Ren spoke. "I don't think we want to draw much attention after what happened with the calling cards and all."
"Oh, and I have a curfew, so."
"Yeah I get it." Ann did a stretch. "Let's get out of here."
As the group navigated the school halls, they just happened to pass by the bulletin board where they posted the calling cards.
A young woman stood there, examining the bulletin board.
Ren adjusted his glasses and took a glance.
"Hey Ryuji." He asked the fake blonde. "Is that the student council president?"
The rush of warm air was very welcome as Ren left the cold and entered Cafe Le Carre.
"Welcome back," A warm voice greeted him.. "Please take a seat, you've earned it."
Kaplan was in the back, brewing warm drinks.
"You fought hard out there, at least that's what she tells me." The spy pointed to Kasumi, who was sipping coffee in one of the booths.
"Hey senpai." Kasumi greeted tiredly.
"Hi." Ren returned. "You made it out okay?"
"Just fine." She gave a weary smile.
Sensing the other's fatigue, as well his own, Ren decided not to pry further.
"Now, I know you two are dead tired, so I'll make it quick." The spy placed a cup in front of Ren.
"I'll be taking the bodycam." Kaplan placed out his hand, to which Ren removed the camera mounted on his coat button and gave it to the spy.
"I'll take the medal too." The spy spoke. "I'll launder it and give you the profit."
"You know about the medal?" Ren asked.
"I did research on the bastard, he's a former olympian so it'd make sense for it to be a medal." The spy explained. "In the meantime, enjoy another five grand." He hauled up a suitcase and slid Ren a note. "I set up a bank account for you, access it if you want something nice, spend it carefully."
"Thanks." Ren replied.
"Remember, visit with my higher-ups is in two days." The spy reminded gently. "Now, I'm gonna go drive her back now." Kaplan gestured to Kasumi. He patted Ren's back. "Sit tight."
Kasumi got up, putting her drink down.
"Well, goodnight senpai." She blew him a kiss as they left for the spy's car.
"Goodnight." Ren replied as he watched the two leave, and go out into the cold.
It was a relatively bright and pleasant morning.
Ren walked into school not expecting too much. The threat of expulsion was diminished as the spy had received some forward intelligence from Kasumi, explaining that Kamoshida had taken the day off, and 'a friend of hers' would be filling in for the rapist.
"Yo psst!" Ren turned to find Ryuji by his side. "I didn't see him today. Did you?"
"Mmmh, word on the block is he's taken the day off." Ren whispered back.
"I dunno." Ryuji replied. "PE is still on the timetable…"
There was a slight air of suspense as the day rolled closer to gym.
Ren decided to go early, figuring he might as well get his potential expulsion over and done with. He had had nothing to lose. He would either be expelled or not.
Instead of Kamoshida in the gym, he found a woman instead. Holding a clipboard.
A woman with prosthetic legs.
"Hi, I'm Ms. Ibarazaki." She smiled warmly. "I'm filling in for Mister Kamoshida today. Are you in my class?"
So, after a long while of procrastination/brainstorming ideas, I've finally put out the Kamoshida boss fight. I Hope you've found it as entertaining to read as to write. My idea for this chapter was to take the boss fight from the base game and ramp it up to eleven, more action, more weapons and chaos.
Funnily enough, because they have better equipment, the help of a sniper and training in Ren's case, the fight is actually somewhat easier, but this is balanced out because Kamoshida tries to wear them down with his guards before fighting them himself. I also tried to give the sense it was a sort of do-or-die fight, so there's less talking and more fast paced fighting.
Nonetheless, I feel this chapter was one of my best in a while. I hope the last snippet made the fans of the game she came from happy
-Joesephi