Persona 5X chapter 9
I LIIIIIIIVE! So I've decided on a few things:
Until I get my Remnant Rewound revamp up, I'm gonna focus on this one primarily.
go.
Sayo Kawakami sighed as she slumped down onto her seat in the now empty classroom. Minutes prior to her latest text to the group. Looking over to the hidden shredder under her desk with several slips of papers in it. She shook her head from the sudden wave of thoughts entering through her mind. The most prominent, and relentless, one lingering was this one teasingly far off question.
Didn't I do this before?
The fights, the exploration, the sense of dangerous adventure. Everything about Kamoshida's Palace just felt… familiar to her, but for the life of her, she just couldn't figure out where or what it was. Those mystical elements she used, the thrill of fighting, sneaking, looting… it was as though it was all but a dream, yet for some reason, in the back of her mind. It felt nostalgic.
Looking around the room one more time, Kawakami pulled out a drawer and took out a small binder. Opening the makeshift book, she sighed at the only big image in it: a paper sheet sized photo of a group in their teens. A teenage version of herself was seen near the middle, next to a bespectacled male and a short reporter girl. A female goth, a thug like delinquent and a neat librarian looking girl.
"Just what is happening?" she whispered to the air, the question lingering like the distant memory she's desperately grabbing. Getting nowhere with sulking and moaning about this, Kawakami decided to do something that she hadn't done in a long while.
*riiing*
*riiiiiiing*
*riii-* "Hello?"
"Hey… it's been a while since we talked."
"We saw each other a few weeks ago."
"Yeah, but there's something I have to tell you… I'll meet you soon." 'Phantom thieves or not, this is something that I can't figure out alone, so I might as well get the gang back together' She thought. 'I won't disclose too much, though…'
"Alright, I'm in the middle of work, but come by later. Want me to call the others?"
"Sure."
"Alright, See ya Kawakami."
"See you… Sojiro."
Saturday 30th
Cloudy
Leblanc's
Afternoon
Five days have passed, and still no sign of result from Kamoshida. Akira paced lightly around the room, Morgana, Arata and the two main persona looking onward at the circling male.
"What else is there to do?" Akira asked, sighing frustratingly. "We've already shopped, studied, visited Tae's clinic, met up with everyone, sold all the loot we nabbed in the palace, i just finished watering my plants…"
~yeah, i'm running on blanks too. I could've suggested taking the group to Voidtex, but you're the only one aside from me experienced enough to handle the place. And that was before the tricked out pokemon stands jumped into the equation.~
"I may have a suggestion, but let's wait until everyone's in one place before I pitch in; who knows what'll happen if we jump in unprepared." morgana replied.
"Uuuugh. I'm bored." Akira froze for a second, chuckling lightly. "Never thought I'd hear myself say that."
~well… I may have another idea that we can do…~
"Really? What is it?"
~you know, Kira. the cycle quests.~
"Oh. ooooh. I forgot about those." Akira gasped, remembering way back when.
"Um… Cycle quests?" Morgana asked. "What are those?"
~I agree. I have not heard of these "Cycle quests" that you speak of.~ Zorro added.
~they're repeatable special events we can do. They change slightly every day, but there are usually four kinds of quests: Zen Yen Mill to rake in loads of yen, crystal field for enhancing crystals, Nanomana crypt to get power up items and Rare house for random, yet rare items.~
"The only problem is that it's tedious and requires a bit of time and patience." Akira continued, walking up to the cat. "However, it just might work in getting rid of this boredom."
~that's the spirit!~ Arata cheered. ~so… when is the next meet up with everyone?~
"In 3 hours…" Morgana sighed.
~then we have 3 hours to explore these dungeons. Let us make haste.~ Arsene finished, the five nodded their confirmation afterwards. A few seconds later, Sojiro walked up to the room, only to find nobody there but a note saying "be back soon, friend meeting" on the bed.
3 hours later…
"Seriously, are you okay Ryuji?" Akira asked. After grinding a surprisingly lot of times, the leblanc residents decided to head over to a local cafe where the others are hanging out, Mishima joining them partway explaining his project called the "Phansite", however, the moment they were walking by the school, a group of teen males wearing gym clothes caught Arata's eye. It took everyone's attention when they hear Ryuji's voice yelling out from in front of the group.
Needless to say, things escalated a bit. And now the gym students were walking away with bruises and mumbling about invisible wedgies.
"Yeah man, I'm fine." Ryuji waved off. "They always do this: they're all bark. Honest."
~and the yelling?~
"i … got riled up again."
"Hmm… well, don't let those lemmings mess you up." Morgana answered.
~so, now that ryu's joined the party…~
"Ryu?"
~who's left? There's Ann, Haru, and Shiho…~
"Don't forget Kawakami."
~ah right.~
*BOOOM*
Jumping in sync at the surprising boom of thunder, the group of boys looked up to find dark storm clouds rolling in. just then their phones vibrated in unison. Taking out his first, Akira looked at the upcoming message.
Floof: sorry, I don't think I can make it to the meeting.
K: I've just received a call from the school ,they want me for something. Might want to take a raincheck on the meeting.
Ann: sorry, shiho and I are gonna wait out the storm at my place.
Shaking his head, Akira put away his phone, looking at the rest of the group. "So… you wanna hang out with us, Ryuji?" he asked.
"... sure, why not."
Monday February 2nd
Partly cloudy
Shujin academy
Morning
"Hey Arata. Stats please."
~dude that's the 5th time you've asked that.~
"I'm nervous, okay."
~yeah, yeah I know.~ snapping his fingers, a familiar black box appeared before the student.
Akira R. Amamiya-Kurusu
Lv. 25
Hp: 629
Sp: 406
Guts (Rnk 5): 2/10
Kind (Rnk 3): 5/10
Prof (Rnk 3): 9/10
Chrm (Rnk 4): 0/10
Intl (Rnk 3): 8/10
Yen: 2,853,200
After spending the rest of the days grinding through the cycle quests, selling the loot (the store owners' face was priceless) and going around town, the first thing they were greeted with when everyone went back to school was an announcement to meet up at the gymnasium. Unsettled by the sudden change in schedule, the group now stood in various places of the now crowded gym.
"This could be related... no it's most like tied to kamoshida." morgana piped in through Akira's bag.
~maybe… here's hoping that nobody caught wind of us.~
"Thank you all for coming today." the voice of the kingpin knock off of a principal echoed through the room. "Let's begin this schoolwide morning assembly."
Everyone stilled into silence at the principal's words.
"As you all know, a tragic event almost happened on our very grounds the other day. Thankfully, we have been informed of the act being stopped before it could escalate. Even so, everyone here has a bright future ahead of themselves. I implore you to rethink the importance of life and-"
"A sudden sound of the doors opening caught the group's attention, Ann being the first one to spot the familiar bastard teacher before everyone else. However, hie appearance looked weary and disheveled, with a posture and look of defeat and remorse clinging to his features like leeches.
"Guys, look." she whispered, pointing to the teacher walking up on stage.
"Kamoshita!?" Ryuji yelps.
"Is he…"
~oh god i hope it might be…~
Finally making it on stage, kamoshita tapped the principals shoulders, causing the portly man to turn surprised at the sudden arrival.
"O-Oh, Mr. Kamoshida? What's the-" stopping mid sentence by Kamoshida's hand, the teacher mumbled out. "I… have been… reborn.."
Walking past the principal and taking the mic himself, Kamoshida continue. "That's why… i'm going to confess everything to you all…"
~holy shit it IS!~
Murmurs and whispers flooded the room as the teacher took center stage. "I have… repeatedly done things that were… unbecoming of a teacher.."
The murmurs were getting louder as he continued his speech. "Verbally abusing students, physically abusing my team, and… sexually harassing female students… I...I am the reason why shiho suzui attempted suicide…"
"Hot damn…" Ryuji whistled, grinning maniacally at the broken teacher. Gasps and shouts roared out from the crowd at the weeping coach.
"I thought of this school as my own castle...there were even students that I sentenced to expulsion… just because I didn't like them… I have, of course, rescinded them." Kamoshida sobbed. "I am… truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts. I'm an… arrogant, shallow and shameful person… dare I say, even less than that." by then he was full on sobbing. I will take responsibility… and end my life as recompense…"
"Oh shit…" Ryuji mumbled.
~RED FLAG!~
"Crap, this is going too well…" Akira said. Suddenly Ann stepped up a bit, ignoring the staffs pleas to evacuate the gym, and shouts out.
"Don't run, you bastard!" she yells. "Shiho's still alive, even though she'd suffered enough to make her give up on herself. You have NO right to run from this!"
"Catching on with Ann, Ryuji continued the train of thought. "Yeah you shitlord! Don't go shouting out stuff like that while you still got debts to pay!"
"You're right… you're completely right…" Kamoshida weeped. " In return for giving Suzui a position on the team… i… tried to force Ms. Takamaki into having relations… I intentionally provoked Mr. Sakamoto into attacking me to disband the track team, crippling him and shifting the blame to the boy in the process… and I… physically assaulted Ms. Kawakami… just because she rejected me.."
~OK that went there!~
"Kawakami's involved in this too!?" Akira shouts out, looking for the teacher in question. Finding her, his question was confirmed when she looked away slightly. By now the whole crowd was in an uproar at the teacher. The remaining staff tried to calm everyone down to no effect.
"As of today… I will resign from my position as an instructor… and turn myself in." taking out a phone from his pocket, Kamoshida dialed the familiar number and vocally addressed his arrest in front of everyone.
Meeting once again at the rooftop afterschool, the group of nine sat there in silence at the current event that transpired, the sound of police sirens being the only distant noise in the air.
~Hot damn that was...a thing.~ Arata said breaking the silence.
"Really?" Akira deadpanned.
~you think of something better then!~
"Oh I have something better… Professor, when were you going to tell us about Kamoshida's assault?" everyone looked over at her, sighing at the group, she shook her head. "The guy was piss drunk one time and he thought that he was good enough to make it to work. He thought I was whoring myself out and asked me to "join" him. And he got pissed when i said no. he got a few good hits in before I stopped him by kicking his-"
~OK TMI ms. K!~
"Still, didn't you hear what everyone was saying. They were talking about the calling card and everything." Mishima shouts out.
"He really did have a change of heart…" Ann continued, nodding.
"Seems like it…" Ryuji replied.
"That was a bit over the top though, wasn't it?" Haru asked.
"Yeah, was it really for the best?"
"I think so…" Akira said.
~that guy deserved it for all the crap he's put you guys through.~
"But things are happenin' way too fast…" Ryuiji continued. "On our way here, we were bombarded by the students apologizing for everything."
"Well I don't know about you, but we should find a bright side to this." Morgana chipped in. "he apologised to all of you, even for the unknown problem with Kawakami, and it worked; his heart was changed."
~hey, yeah you're right!~
"And we really lucked out on him not having a mental breakdown." Ryuji cheered. "That was an A+ job!"
"That was B- at least." Mishima deadpanned. "Some of us were too busy with Aggro and distractions."
"A job!"
"C++!"
"B+!"
"... eh. that works." mishima relented, shrugging at the blonde.
"In any case," Kawakami spoke. "We now know how to not instigate a cognitive collapse."
"Right…" the group fell into silence once again….
"So….. I have a...slight idea, and hear me out on this! What if we-"
?
Interrogation room
"And that's how Kamoshida had his heart changed." Akira finished.
"And you're sure you're not lying about any of this?" Sae inquired.
"Yes, I'm not entirely in the position to lie."
"In any other case, I wouldn't believe you…"
~see!?~
"But this little group of yours… "Phantom Thieves" as people call it, has been known to pull off the impossible… so I'll reserve my judgement for now." turning a page from the folder spread out on the table. She continued. "I'll skip through some lesser cases and start with your second case: your next victim was Ichiryusai Madarame, a professional japanese artist arrested for negligence and plagiarism."
~oh that guy. The vanity Asshole.~
"Care to explain this case then?"
~Kay Kira, it happened later on in the month…~
Sunday 8th
Leblanc's
Night
The familiar jingle of chains echoed throughout the room as both Akira and Arata once again meet face to face with the residents of the "velvet room".
"Greetings Trickster and friend. I'd like to begin by congratulating you." "Igor" greeted.
"To think our master would give you words of praise." Justine replied.
"Better be grateful inmates!" Caroline added.
~Carol, Justy! Our lovely little Lazulies, nice to see you guys too.~ Arata said. ~we really appreciated that little stunt you two pulled in our world by the way.~
"Thank you."
"You have encountered allies with shared aesthetics, and you have found your place in reality." "Igor" continued " the time has come… your rehabilitation will soon begin."
~hold on beak nose, you're telling us that the Rehab didn't even start yet!?~
"Don't push your luck inmate!"
"I shall elaborate more on your rehabilitation now. You have a special potential inside of you trickster, however, that must be refined into a useful power. It is weak now, but refining it shall grant you strength to stand against the coming ruin."
~huh… so we have to train it up to take on the catastrophe… seems doable.~
"That is the rehabilitation set upon you. There are various means by which you may go about obtaining the power to resist the ruin. Fighting shadows and gaining experience is one way.
~grind the shit out of everything, gotcha.~
"Pay attention! And knock off the commentary!"
~never!~
"The fusion process I taught you prior is another method of refinement."
"Are either of you two listening Inmates!?" Caroline shouts out.
"It would suit you well to heed this advice." Justine continued. " though it may be presumptuous of us, we have words of wisdom as well."
"When you're out there in reality, you'd better hone those relationships you've made your contracts with."
"Spending time with those people will help cultivate those relationships with them."
"If you have time to waste, you'd better spend that with your contractors inmates."
"That is another source of power to evade the ruin that our master has mentioned."
Ready to speak once more, "Igor" snapped his fingers, gaining everyone's attention. "Thanks to the contracts you have formed, your heart is steadily gaining the power of opposition. It seems the rehabilitation is going well. This is a truly joyous occasion."
~wait, i thought you said-~
"Thus, I will give you an ability befitting your newfound growth. Consider it a gift." a black orb appeared from his outstretched hand as he flicks it over to the two prisoners. The orb phased into Akira's chest as a chill went down both their spines.
"May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper. I have high hopes of you"
~Are we just going to ignore-~
A loud ringing was heard throughout the room. "The time is drawing to a close." Justine said.
"Time's up, go home Inmates!, and don't forget your contractors!"
~Just wait a second!~ Arata shouts before both were blanketed by darkness.
…
…
…..
Opening their eyes, both males were once again in the makeshift room in Leblanc's
"This is getting hectic… and we just started too."
~Hey, come on Kira. at least you weren't interrupted.~
"I barely spoke at all that time."
~still relying on me to be the voice of the pair eh?~
"Screw off…" Akira sighed. Silence befell them afterwards. "I wonder how Nan's doing…"
~Who knows, hopefully she's safe and peaceful over there.~
"Yeah… hey Arata. I feel like we have a bit too much to do… what can we do again?"
~well there's the daily quests, synchronization, fusion, assimilate, dismantle, voidtex…~
"Hell, that's a lot by itself, and that's not mentioning the fact that we have to nurture our friendship with everyone."
~true… so, what do you wanna do now that you're awake?~
"hmm…"
Tuesday 10th
Shujin academy
Afternoon
A few days later, the current group of Phantom thieves, sans Kawakami, Shiho and Mishima lounged about on the rooftop of the facility, plotting on what to do next.
"Hey, Arata… just a thought, but don't we have a confidant?" Akira asks, gaining the godling's attention.
~I mean… yeah, we should at least have one… hang on.~ flicking his fingers, a black screen appeared before them.
Confidants: Akira Amamiya-Kurusu
Aratakaja Beldiriver: Maxed (Arcana: UNKNOWN)
Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 2 (Arcana: Chariot)
Morgana: Rank 2 (Arcana: Magician)
Ann Takamaki: Rank 1 (Arcana: Lovers)
Yuuki Mishima: Rank 1 (Arcana: Moon)
Shiho Suzui: Rank 1 (Arcana: Knight)
Sadayo Kawakami: Rank 1 (Arcana: Temperance)
"Igor": Rank 2: (Arcana: Fool)
~How is it unknown?~
"How should I know?" shrugging, Akira pressed Arata's name on the confidant list. A separate list appeared below the name.
Aratakaja Beldiriver: Maxed (Arcana: UNKNOWN)
Rank 1: Soul unlock- allows access to skills and magic in reality
Rank 2:
Rank 3: Soulsona burst- increases max persona skills to 10
Rank 4:
Rank 5: Destiny link- doubles chance of raising confidants
Rank 6:
Rank 7: Soulsona Burst EX- increases max persona skills to 12
Rank 8:
Rank 9: Unity limit- other confidants have access to each others abilities
Rank Max: Limit Breaker- Access to special skills "Utopia", "Dystopia", "Overclock" and grants the hidden Persona Belderiver
"...the hell?"
"Uuugh… there's nothing going on with Mishima's site." Ryuji groaned, leaning on a chair whilst looking through his phone. "Everyone's just bitchin' about their parents or boyfriends… there ain't even a hint of a palace hint."
"We can't get everything online…" Ann replied. "Posting a name and location is asking a lot."
"Then we'll just have to find one ourselves then…"
"Are you suggesting that we find a target that even the police have overlooked?" Morgana asks.
"Yeah… you're right. We should look after exams are over…" Ryuji sighed in disappointment. Meanwhile, off to the side, Akira and Arata are having their own conversation.
"What about Arsene? What's his stats?" Akira asked.
~hang on, give me a second.~
Arsene Lv. 25 (FOOL)
Str: 6
Mag: 29
End: 28
Agi: 28
Luk: 33
Skills:
Eiga
Deathika
Mamudo
Dream Needle
Spirit Drain
Pulinpa
Curse Amp
Mudo Boost
Resist Ice
Growth 3
[blank]
[blank]
"... didn't this use to be 8 skills?"
~looks like these "Soulsona bursts" gave you more to play with…~
Their conversation was cut short when the sound of a door closed, gaining the group's attention. That turned into mild fear and annoyance when they found that the person at the door was none other that Makoto.
"Oh, miss Nijima… what are you-" was all Akira got before clamming up at the light yet powerful half glare she was giving everyone.
"This place is off limits for a reason, you know." she said.
"We'll get outa here when we're done chattin'." Ryuji retorted. "What's the school prez want with us anyway?
"The troublemaker, the girl of rumor, and the transfer student… interesting combination."
~wait…~ Arata said, looking for a bit to find Morgana hiding behind some plants. ~oh, there you are… Pussy.~
"What are you implying exactly, miss Nijima?" Akira said.
"Oh, Nothing, just intrigued. By the way… you seem to know a bit about Mr. Kamoshida in a short amount of time…"
"..."
"So what's this, an interrogation?" Ryuji chipped in. "Some weird method you created to make us talk about stuff you'd probably already know?"
"Word around the grapevine says that Mr. Kamoshida made a volleyball member leak your personal records…" Makoto continued. "Don't you hate him? Kamoshida, I mean."
"What are you trying to get out of us?" Akira answered finally.
"Nothing much… rumors and statements about Kamoshida are going around like the plague, then there are the rumors about that calling card."
"I didn't expect someone like you to care about this stuff, Nijima."
"Or much at all for that matter…" Ryuji muttered, standing up. "Anyways, we done here? We can't leave if you're keepin' us."
"The least you could do is try to understand my position. Having to deal with this horseplay…"
"Horseplay!?" Ann shouts out in confusion.
"Oh, I almost forgot… this place will be closed off due to the incident. The last thing we need are more attempts. I heard that certain people were coming up here without permission too."
~this girl is fucking with us.~ Arata grumbled. ~abusing her authority like that…~
"I'm sorry to have interrupted you. Oh and by the way, Kurusu, if you have the time, i'd like to talk with you about some stuff." Makoto finished, leaving the rooftop afterwards.
"...she's onto us." Morgana said.
~well shit.~
"Crap, she probably saw through the Game coverup." Ryuji moaned.
"That girl's rather sharp, we should be cautious of her."
~that's good and all, but where are we gonna go now? We lost our first base and Mishima, Haru, Shiho and Ms. K. don't know about that yet.~
"We'll get to that later." Akira reassured the godling.
"Ugh.. she really pissed me off. Talk about a pain in the ass…"
"Well… I may have something that'll fix that." the cat creature stated, gaining everyone's attention."
"Remind me again why we're at the train station?" Mishima asked, the group now mostly reformed, sans Kawakami, stood around in the familiar area of transportation.
"Just do as I told you, Okay? Morgana answered.
"Alright, I got this Phansite thing up. Now what?" Ryuji said, holding out his phone.
"Look for a post with a full name in it."
"I already said, there's no info on any big shots, remember?"
"Here's one." Haru said, pulling out her own phone. Looking at it, Ann read it aloud.
"I don't know what to do about my Ex who's stalking me. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara…" Ann said. "Says he's a teller at city hall."
"A government officer stalkin' someone?"
"That's a suitable target. Alright. Now get the meta-nav ready."
~meta-nav? When did we name that?~
Opening up the app on his phone, Akira typed in the new target's name.
"Now put in for the place "Mementos." then let it take over from then on."
"What're you tryin' to pull cat?"
"Just do it. It will work." adding mementos to his phone, the group looked on at the ravenette's device.
*Candidate found*
"Wait… we got a hit!?" Ryuji said.
"Told you." Morgana retorted. The world distorted in a familiar black and red.
Arriving on the other side, the group of 8 looked around to find nobody else there with them, despite looking like nothing happened in the scenery.
"Everyone disappeared!?" Ann yelped.
"Is this that Nakanohana guy's palace?" Ryuji asked, getting a cat's shake of his head as an answer.
"You're half right; this place, Mementos, is much more than just his palace." Morgana clarified. "Anyways, let's head down. The shadows are lurking underground. Don't really know why though…"
Shrugging, Akira advanced towards the stairs, everyone followed suit behind him. When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, the first thing they noticed was that they were wearing their Phantom thief outfits.
"The hell is this place?" Ryuji asked. "And why are we in our PT outfits?"
"The shadows know we're here?" Ann yelps.
"Wait really? We just got here!" Mishima yells.
"Don't worry, we're safe up here. I've checked. They never come up to this floor." Morgana answered. "It's a different story when you go down though… they're teeming down there."
"I'm more curious about this Mementos than that honestly." Haru said. "Where are we exactly?"
"Mementos is… Everyone's palace."
~everyone?~
"Everyone. A palace as grand as that castle from earlier can only form when the person's wishes are extremely distorted. So instead of everyone having a specific palace, the general public has one gigantic, shared palace. That's where we are."
"So everyone's generic distorted desires are here, while the stronger ones form their own?" Akira asked.
"Yep. think of it as the collective unconscious… nevermind, you guys wouldn't understand that."
"So that means that we might be able to change people's hearts who don't have a palace?" Shiho said.
"Correct! Though the steps to do so are slightly different here."
"But this place looks pretty huge… are we gonna get anywhere just by walkin'?"
"Leave that to me! Morgana TRANSFOOOORM!" leaping into the air, Morgana span in a glow of light, a giant poof later, he touched down… as a small cat like bus. "...huh, i thought i'd be smaller… oh well, come now. ladies first!"
"A-a car!?" Ann shouts out.
"No Way!" Ryuji shouts out.
~Why is this a thing!?~
"This is from the way cognition materialized in here… plus a bit of training. It's not different from how you guys transform."
~yeah, but why a bus!?~
"For some reason, "cats turning into busses" is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public."
"My neighbor Totoro." Akira said simply.
"Huh?" was everyone's reply.
~oh yeah, that ghibli movie from way back when. Nan loved that movie.~
"Wait… why didn't you do this at the castle!?" Ryuji yelled
"That place was cramped, had tons of stairs, and there's now way this was gonna fit on a chandelier!"
"Oh… shotgun!" he yelled back, running into the Morgana-mobile.
"Wha- Hey! Ryuji, Ladies first!"
After an hour and a half of Joker(akira) driving around, looting, killing shadows, adding more persona to Joker, and running one over. They finally found the person they were looking for.
"WhO ArE YoU!?" the shadowy figure demands.
"Are you that Stalker Nakanohara!? Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?" Panther retorted. The shadow in turn growled at the group.
"ShE's My PrOpErTy! I CaN dO wHaTeVeR i WaNt WiTh HeR!"
~No you can't!~ Reaper shouts back.
"It'S NoT lIkE sHe DiDn'T tReAt Me LiKe A pLaYtHiNg! WhAt'S WrOnG wItH mE dOiNg ThE sAmE!?"
"You can't treat someone like shit, just because they did it to you!" Skull shouts out. "That's a load of crap! We're gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!"
"ThErE aRe MiLlIoNs Of PeOpLe FaR wOrSe ThAn Me!" shadow Nakanohara roared. "WhAt AbOuT mAdArAmE!? He StOlE eVeRyThInG fRoM mE, bUt YoU'rE lEtTiNg HiM oFf ThE hOoK!?"
~who the hell is Macaroni~
"Madarame." Joker corrected.
~yeah who's that?~
"No clue."
Roaring indignantly, the shadow erupted in black and red, transforming into a demon thing with eyes everywhere.
"Get, ready, Here it comes!" Morgana shouts out, everyone drawing their weapons.
"WRAAAGH!" the shadow lunged aiming for Noir, but a pink veil kept him in place.
~good Psychic attack Noir! Hey Joker, let's try one of those new moves.~
"Right, Pulinpa!" Joker commanded, Arsene swinging his chains at the bound demon thing, a pink and yellow ring of stars orbited around it before it collided into its body, making it scream in pain. This startled noir into losing focus, dropping the shadow.
"I got this!" Skull yelled, rearing up for a mighty swing-
Fling
*BONK*
"OW!" only for him to be smacked in the face face from an item the shadow threw at him.
"Skull! You okay!?" Akuma shouts out, Skull giving a thumbs up in response.
"Why you little!" he then got up again to attack, but was once again blindsided by the demon chucking a ton of money at him.
"AGH, WHY!?"
~um… is this normal?~
"Not… really." Mona shrugged.
"Alright, screw this!" Skull shouts out, throwing out a charge of zio at it, stunning it, and knocking it down.
"So lightning hurts it? Nice!"
"Finish it off!" Shinobi shouts out, unleashing a barrage of arrows at the downed shadow. Soon after everyone followed suit and obliterated it.
A few minutes later of fighting, and others getting beaned by items and yen, the group finally had it on the ropes.
"W-wait, I-I was wrong! Please forgive me!" Nakanohara pleaded, reverting back to the human form as he cowered before the group.
~anyone else feels like this was anticlimactic?~ Reaper asked, nobody answered. ~no? Ok.~
"That evil teacher used me, then threw me out in the street. That's what caused my fixation on her."
~macarena did that?~
"Madarame."
~don't care.~
"Anyways, is this Madarame guy the evil teacher who did that to you?" Panther asked.
"Yeah… I just didn't want anyone to throw me out again…"
"So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too…"
"Still, that doesn't mean you should drag an unrelated woman into your mess."
"Yes… I know that now…. I'll stop my stalking habit with her." Nakanohara meekly said. "Hey. you guys can change people's hearts, right?"
"Yeah…" Akuma answered. "Why?"
"Then won't you change Madarame's heart!? Before more people fall victim to him."
Before they could give an answer, the shadow glowed white, disappearing into thin air, the remains of where he stood was a glowing item.
~i assume that's his "treasure" so to speak?~
"Yep."
"Still though… change Madarame's heart?" Panther asked.
"Anyways, so that guy had a change of heart, right?" Skull asked instead.
"Yep. that's how it works." Mona answered. "And it sounds like we got a lead out of it too."
~cool! Now then-~
"Hang on! We still have something to do down here first!"
~aw what?~
"It won't take long."
…
…
A few minutes later, the group found that they have arrived at a dead end, a red and black vortex blocking the path.
~ok, so what now, do we stare at this spider web thing?~
"There's more to this than meets the eye. Let me…" Mona stated, touching the wall in front of him. Suddenly, in a loud rumble, the wall slid open like an automatic door.
"It… it opened!?" Panther yelled out.
*a new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information.*
"See!? Just as I thought!" Mona cheered.
"What do you mean?"
"Last time I was here alone, this was all that I could get to, but I figured that there must be more than just this area. I just had to figure out why and how to work around that."
"Well then, should we continue forward?" Shinobi suggested, the cat shaking his head being her answer.
"Let's not. That's not why we're here today, remember?" Mona continued. " we've done our objective for today, let's rest and regroup back in reality. I'll explain more there." nodding at this, the group began to head back the way they came, but not before Mona tugged on Joker's coat.
"Oh, and Joker, Lord Philemon and Master Igor wants to talk to you later."
The next saga Comences! Now we're getting to the second palace of the series. Side note: P5R is coming out on Halloween!
Fangasm aside, not much to say here.
TBC