Chapter 5 already! I would really appreciate if someone did some art to match this story. I would even give them a personal shout out in the next chapter! If you are interested, just send me a PM telling me so. I do not own Persona 4: Golden or Rise of the Guardians, but I wish I did! I would have lots of *cough* fun with Rise of the Guardians. Now on with the story!
After the rescue of Yukiko, everything pretty much went back to normal; except for one thing….The girls woke up the next morning after the rescue to a high pitch scream. The next thing they saw was Yukiko running into the room with a creature following her. "Mistress! Don't be scared I'm your per-." The creature tried to reason but Yukiko hid in the closet before it could finish.
The creature was pink with a white blouse and skirt. On it's chest was a white heart that seemed to fit with her blouse. It had long legs that ended in points instead of feet. What was really noticeable was the pink wings that move with her arms since it was attached to it's arms. For a head, it had a pink colored helmet that had big, white "eyes" and a couple of flowers adorned to the back of the helmet with white feathers attached to them. "Oh! Hi, I did not see all of you there." The creature said, turning it's gaze towards the four girls and their personas. "I am Konohana Sakuya, but you can call me Konohana or Kono for short. I am supposed to be Yukiko's persona"
All the girls were quiet until Madison walked up to the new persona. "Hi, Konohana! I'm Madison and my persona is Okami, the black wolf. The girl with the short purple-blue hair is Nola and her persona is Bastet, the cat with the golden jewelry. The long browned hair girl is Fern and her persona is Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto or Mikoto for short, he is the fox. The short brown haired girl is Marisa and her persona is Minamoto Yoshiie or Minamoto for short, he is the werewolf." Mikomoto glared at Madison. "I rather prefer if you called me-." Madison matched his glare, but it was far worse. Mikoto whimpered softly. "Yukiko, you can come out now. This creature is your persona. Your persona is a part of you, a mask to your ego. She won't harm you in any way, shape, or form." Yukiko slowly opened the closet door, eyeing Kono the whole time. After a mere few minutes, they were giggling about various things and it was evident that they were going to be great friends.
The next day was a rainy day. All throughout school, Madison watched it carefully, seeing if it will lighten up at all. Even after school when she walked back to the inn with her friends did it show any sign of lightening up. It continued to rain until around midnight and she knew that she should check the midnight channel to make sure no one has appeared in the TV world without them knowing. It was a long shot but it was worth it. A few minutes before midnight, she managed to get all her friends to gather around the TV and all lights and TV were off. Most of her friends thought that the killer would throw another person in so soon but Madison knew that something seemed a bit off. It was as if something was messing with all the worlds (oh how right she was).
As soon as the clock hit midnight, the TV turned on. Every girl and her persona gasped. On the screen was an all too familiar white haired teenager that Madison and her friends never thought that they would see in any other world besides their own. The boy…was Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. He did not look much different from his cartoon self despite being in an anime world. He was in a forest setting that reminded the girls (except Yukiko since she never saw the film) of Burgess. He was standing in the middle of a clearing and looking towards the "camera". "Hello ladies and gentleman, welcome to "The Secrets of the Guardians"! I will be your host, Jack Frost! Now, we better get going. We can't keep the other guardians waiting too long." With that, Jack ran off into the wilderness.
Everyone was shocked. How could a cartoon also get stuck in this world?! Yukiko was still confused. "Is he a friend of your's?" She asked. Fern shook her head. "No, he was in a cartoon movie called "Rise of the Guardians". He is not real in our world." Suddenly, the phone rang and every single girl and their persona jumped. Yukiko answered it with a shaky voice. "Hello? Oh, hi Chie! Yeah, we saw it too. Fern said that the boy is a fictional person in their world. OK, see you tomorrow. Bye." After she hanged up, she turned to the other four people in the room. "It was Chie. She said that she, Sougi, and Yosuke also saw the boy. Sougi wants all of to meet him during lunch tomorrow to talk about it." Madison nodded. "Yeah, let's get some sleep. We have school tomorrow."
—
Next day, during lunch:
"OK, so there are 5 people stuck in that world!" Sougi said in disbelief. "Yes, there are 5 guardians total and since Jack said that the show was called "Secrets of the Guardians", I am guessing all of them are there." Madison confirmed. "That makes sense." Sougi said. Yosuke perked up. "Is there any girls in this "guardian" group?" He asks. Chie rolled her eyes while Sougi sighed. "Yes, actually." Madison said. "There is Tooth, the tooth fairy. She has many feathers covering her body and she has wings." Yosuke seemed to be thinking to himself but he said what he thought out loud. "I wonder if the feathers cover that part of her body." All that earned him was a kick in the face by Chie. "Pervert!" She huffed. Madison just ignored the whole exchange. "OK, after school we will all head to Junes and save them."
—
After school, TV world:
Luckily, though strange, Teddie could easily show where the new dungeon was. On the outside, it looked like a house. Just a regular, normal home. "This is Jamie's house." Madison informed. "Well what are we waiting for?! Lets go save them!" Marisa said excitedly. After all, how many people do you know got to actually see the guardians?
As soon as they walked through the door, though, the whole atmosphere changed. It changed to a snowy outside with buildings and roads and cars. A little ways off, they could see a forest. "Burgess." Madison whispered. "This is Jack Frost domain." Before she could explain, a new voice spoke out and filled the whole area. "They always tell me what to do! They don't care whether I'm there or not. They only want me as a backup guardian. Someone they will use and, if need be, killed in order to protect those brats that have ignored me for 300 YEARS!" Marisa whimpered. "That v-voice; it's Jack's, isn't it?" Fern nodded. "Yep, this must be how he truly feels. He must be talking about the other guardians since he said "they" instead of someone specific."
They group was about to move on when a person appeared in front of them. It was Jack but instead of blue eyes, he had dark golden eyes. "Are you here to save the other me?" He sneered. "Well, you are going to have a hard time with that. We are way more powerful than you are." Madison, along with Okami, let out a low growl. "How dare you hurt the guardians! They do nothing more than bring fun, wonder, hope, memories, and dreams to children." Jack smiled, showing his (relatively sharp) teeth. "But it's fun! Hearing all these thoughts. The way they feel. It makes us hungry for more pain. For more torture. I better get going. The other me is about to wake up and I want to be there when it happens." With that said and done, the shadow Jack disappeared. Madison growled again and stomped on the ground. "WHY DO THEY HAVE TO MAKE THINGS SO DIFFICULT! WITHOUT THE ROTG TWIST, I WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BEAT THIS GAME EASILY!" Nola walked up to Madison and slapped her, bringing her back to her senses. "Look, we need to hurry up or else all the children in the world will be in danger of going insane."
No one else argued. It's true; if they don't save the guardians soon, they will die and every single child will be left with fear. So they continue on. The floors, as Madison noticed, took the form of each guardian's domain: Burgess, the Workshop, the Warren, Tooth's Palace, and finally, the Sand Ship. In the middle of the Sand Ship, the large group ran into a problem. Pitch Black was also there.
"Looks like you are trying to save the guardians." Pitch smirked. "Well I won't let you! I waited for centuries to get rid of those lap dogs and now I have a chance. All those children will feel nothing but fear once the guardians are out of the way." Madison growled. "Well too bad! We are going to beat you because we know your weakness. Yukiko, use Agi! Marisa, use light!" The two girls summoned their personas and the attacks weakened the Nightmare King greatly. "Aahh! How could you know my weakness! I don't even know you people!" Pitch yelled. Madison smiled. "In our world, you and the guardians are nothing more but movie characters." She explained. With that said, she summoned Okami and used Agi on the Boogeyman. With a yell, he disappeared. But Madison knew better. He was not dead and he will most likely try and get back at them.
Yukiko stared at the spot were Pitch had stood. "Who are these people?" She asked. "Who are these 'guardians' really?" Fern was the one to answer her question. "It's kinda hard to explain. You should ask them yourself once we defeat their shadows." Her eyes then grew wide. "Hey Madison, have you ever had to defeat multiple bosses in this game before?" Madison's eyes grew wide as well. "No, I never had to fight multiple bosses before. Let's pray that they are as weak as normal shadows." They moved onto the next and last floor.
As soon as the double doors closed behind them, they knew this will be their biggest battle yet. All five of the guardians were standing in the middle of the room, obviously in pain. Their shadows were standing before them, looking at them in disinterest. They looked up to see the humans but did not change their expression. It seemed that they let Jack's shadow be the voice for all five of them. "Well well, look at who decided to join us." That was when the normal guardians noticed the teenagers. "Get out of here! It's not safe!" North yelled. The shadows chuckled. "We'll get rid of you brats in no time." Jack's shadow said, still chuckling. "That damn 'Man in the Moon'! We hate him! We are nothing but his little puppets to spread belief everywhere. If he wanted to spread belief, why doesn't that bastard do it himself!" The real Jack shook his head. "No, that's not true. You are not us. YOU CAN'T BE US!" The shadows' pupils dilated in their sickly yellow eyes. "That's right." Each shadow said at the same time. "None of you are us. WE ARE NOW IN CONTROL!" Black smoke covered the room and the normal guardians fainted.
When the smoke cleared, the atmosphere changed. On the ceiling, there was an image of a harvest moon but it looked more like a blood moon. There were multiple strings coming down and attaching themselves to the shadow guardians' bodies. The shadows remained the same except for being bloody and creepy than a cartoon should be. The five shadows all spoke as one. "We are the true selves! Now get out of our way you damn brats!" Marisa looked confused. "Why did they take that form? They look like puppets." Nola explained. "They felt like they are puppets for the moon to play with." Yosuke seemed interested in these "mythical creatures". He was defiantly going to talk to those "guardians" if they make it out alive.
Madison analyzed the shadows using only her logical knowledge. "Yukiko, use Agi on the white haired teenager! He is Jack Frost so his weakness should be fire." Sure enough, the attack drained a lot of the winter sprite's health. "Good! Keep attacking him with fire magic! Yosuke, attack that little yellow man with wind. He is the Sandman and if I remember correctly, sand and wind don't mix. Chie, attack that overgrown bunny with ice! He is the Easter Bunny and hates the cold." Boom, boom, and…boom. The three shadow guardians fell and disappeared. Despite defeating those three shadows, the normal guardians were still on the floor as if they were asleep. "Looks like we need to get rid of the last-" Sougi was punched by North's shadow before he could finish that sentence. Izanagi felt the pain as well and was using his sword to keep himself standing. Sougi grabbed his side were he was hit but made no attempt to pick himself up. The hit was quite powerful. "Damn it! I don't know what the last two's weaknesses are!" Madison yelled. Yukiko pointed her hand-held fan towards the last two shadows. "Well, lets experiment shall we. Maragi!" Konohana opened her wings and fire fell upon the bloody puppets. Tooth's shadow easily avoided it but it hit North. Unfortunately, it was not his weakness. "Nola, try Zio!" "Fine, Bastet!" "Got it mistress!" The cat goddess sent a bolt of electricity towards North and low and behold, it actually worked! "What! How did you know that that is my weakness!" Madison shrugged. "I just guessed." "Well you better say your goodbyes. I am now truly pissed off!" Before the giant man (err, shadow) could attack the teenager, something somehow fell from the sky and landed on its feet perfectly. Only Madison, Fern, and Nola knew who it was. "RAIYA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" They all said in unison. The "thing" appeared to be a girl with a tomboy style of brown hair. She wore a purple sweatshirt with blue jeans. She was holding a "microphone" in one of her hands. "Psst, you can't see me." Raiya whispered, pointing at the confused group. "Um, actually we can." Nola pointed out. "No you cannot see me, but I can see you." Madison shook her head. "OK, first we can see you and second, what you just said sounded wrong. Almost as wrong when Fern is talking about her eating pocky sticks." "But you can't see me!" "Dude, we can see you and what's with the thing in your hand?" Nola asked. Raiya beamed, forgetting that she was suppose to be, um, invisible. "This is my microphone! I am suppose to narrate everything you all do!" "We don't need a narrator." Madison said. "We already have that chick over there." She pointed to a girl sitting in the corner of the room typing away on a laptop. The girl looked up briefly, noticing all the attention was on her now. "GET BACK TO THE STORY! I AM BUSY WRITING THIS FANFICTION RIGHT NOW!" Everyone looked at each other before looking back at Raiya. Marisa was still confused about the microphone. "Isn't that just a pinecone on a stick?" She asked. Raiya shrugged. "Budget cuts." Was all she said.
The shadows were starting to get annoyed by the new girl. North walked up to her and punched her right out of the room. The last thing she said before she disappeared through the ceiling was "I'll be back!" "Whew, now that's over with, ZIO!" Nola summoned another lightning bolt and it hit North. Since the shadow was not ready for the attack, it killed him instantly. The last shadow was Tooth. Madison grinned evilly. "I know what her weakness is. Marisa, do you have a bag of candy in that bottomless backpack of yours?" Marisa nodded and pulled out a big bag of candy from her backpack. She handed it to Madison and Madison's smile grew. "Time to die, b***h!" "Really! Do you have to censor that word?" Madison did not say anything to Nola's question. She picked up a handful of chocolate and chucked it very hard at the tooth fairy. It hit her and she screamed. "I'm melting! I'm MELTING!" The shadow's body fell to the floor and disappeared. They finally beat all the shadows. The shadows and the room returned to normal. Slowly, the normal guardians stirred and sat up as if they were sleeping the whole time. As soon as their eyes landed on the darker versions of themselves, they quickly got into a fighting stance. Madison got in between the normal and the shadow guardians before there was another fight. "Look, you have to accept your shadows or else they will go crazy again." She told the normal guardians. Everyone looked to Jack Frost to speak and he sighed. "Fine, we really did feel like the Man in the Moon was just using us to get what he wants. But now we know that it is easier for us to spread belief than him. Without our help, Pitch would have won and fear would rule over everything else." The other four guardians silently agreed but their shadows understood them as if they were speaking out loud. Every shadow nodded and disappeared.
A warm light filled the room and everyone was forced to look away from the guardians. When the light disappeared and they all could see again, they could not believe their eyes. Standing were each guardian had stood were four human females and one human male. They wore the same attire as the guardians and looked quite similar to the guardians. The white haired girl turned to the stunned group and smiled. "I guess we were suppose to get those things fighting beside you, personas was it, but instead we were turned into these genderbent human versions. I wonder what our personas look like." She looked up as if she was in thought. Sougi, with Yosuke's help, managed to get off the floor and was now using his friend's shoulder to support himself. "Can we leave please! We need to get home so we can rest." Everyone had to agree. It was a very tiring experience for all of them. "You girls can stay with us for now. Since you are all from a different world, I'm guessing you have no where to leave." Yukiko told the girls, and guy. "Sounds good! Looks like we are going to have another adventure!" The same white haired girl said, jumping up and down while her comrades sighed.
Somewhere else:
The figure was clearly pissed off. What! Those stupid legends should be dead by now. Looks like I have to find someone new now. He disappeared before anyone could notice him.
If you want to see what the human genderbent versions of the Guardians look like, check out 1gothGRRL's ROTG genderbent works. Her work is freakin' AWESOME!