Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter 10
The Phantom Thieves
*Afterschool: 4/15: Thursday*
Ren knows better then anyone else that dangers and risks that come when you challenge society's rules or when you try to break free from the role the world has planted you in. He is also very aware of the ramifications of their next action, and what they are about to do could possibly go wrong, even with the best of intentions could ultimately end their futures. Whether it be the world who punishes them for what they do or the emotional weight upon their hearts, either way was a possibility that everyone has taken into great consideration.
But anyone who had hesitation in their hearts, doubts on the path they were about to take or even sympathy for their target, had died.
A girl, a victim of Kamoshida had tried, and possibly succeeded, in taking her life. The monster of a coach laughed it off, bragging that he was basically getting away with murder and now he was taking more futures away from the students. This wasn't a man, no to Ren anymore. No, this was a parasite on humanity, someone who used his position to torment students, to abuse and discard them like toys, and now his cruelty wasn't even restricted to just physical abuse. He wasn't even above causing the victims to take their own lives.
So comfortable with this, so dismissive over a tragedy he caused, and now that he was getting rid of Ren and the other two students, he'll continue to live his life happily at the expense of others. There was a sick yet delightful feeling within Ren, thinking of how delightful it was going to be to see that man's world turn upside down and force him to confess his sins, to admit to all the horrible things that monster had committed under the guise of being a great coach.
Currently he, Neku, Sora, Kairi and Ryuji were with Morgana discussing what was coming next, the others already headed back to avoid suspicion or draw attention.
"We can't waste any more time! We gotta hurry up, go to that world, and beat the shit out of that asshole!" Ryuji growled, slamming his fist against the vending machine's glass frame.
"We're not beating him up…" Morgana sighed, facing the angry teenager.
"That's just an added bonus," Neku grunts with a smirk, "Stealing that distorted desires part is the main job after all".
"So can I assume you guys made your minds up about all this? Even knowing the risks about having a mental breakdown?" Morgana asked.
The teens exchanged looks, still processing what they were about to do. No matter how the reason or why, nobody was eager to take a life, not even from a degenerate like Kamoshida. But Kairi spoke, saying while she still has reservations for committing to taking a life or having a terrible impact on his mental state, she affirmed that whatever mercy the coach could have had from them became an option no more. A girl almost died because of him, and as far as she was concerned he deserved no less.
Neku whole heartedly agreeing with her, claiming he doesn't care what happens to the man so long as Shiho and all the others get the justice they were denied. Even if he claimed the vast majority of his reason was just to finally give the man the payback he was long overdue, while Ryuji was done giving a rat's ass about what happens next. Morgana asked is Sora or Ren held any concerns about this. Sora says exactly what the cat had been saying to them, they have no other options to use and even then with Kamoshida's influence on the teachers, Ren and the others will still be expelled. It could one last screw you to the boys before they even get a morsal of justice.
"There's no other option for us or the students, like Sora said. And we all know if we don't do something, Shiho will not be the last student to go through with what she did," he says. "Kamoshida is never going to change, and now that he could get away with murder, he will escalate and test the boundaries of his positions power".
"And because the principal is so content to let him get away with it so long as he brings glory to the school, there isn't anyone we could go to even with evidence," Neku huffed, "Even if Shiho does wake up, he'll probably threaten her to keep quiet".
"Then we all agree we're gonna go with my plan, right?" Morgana asked.
"I suppose so," Kairi confirmed, "Not like we have any other options, right?".
"Guess not. But hey, between all of us? We'll handle it!" boasted Sora, gesturing to his chest.
"Numbers and skill can help, but I want to know how hard this is gonna be," Ren suggested.
Ryuji agreed and even asked Morgana how hard this was going to be, considering how new the others are still to this. It made sense to ask the furball considering how determined he was for the others to go with this plan, and he should have far more knowledge on matters like the Palaces and how Kamoshida's distorted heart. Except…Morgana asked them when did he ever say he's done this before?
"…eh?" Ryuji squeaked.
"Morgana…y-you've never done this?" Kairi asked with a raised brow while everyone's indigent anger grew.
"Nope. Literally my first time," he replied casually.
A silence had befallen the group, before they all snapped at him with rage and indigency. "YOU WERE PRETENDIN' TO KNOW HOW TO THIS!?" Ryuji roared, making the cat jump while the others glared at him, and Kairi rubbed her forehead with a deep frown. Neku chastising him for the smug and condescending attitude he's had regarding their hesitance, and now he had the nerve to act so high and mighty where he himself is no less informed about this heist than the others. Morgana huffed and argued that he has SOME idea on how to handle this heist, though Sora says he feels like the cat is just making things up as he goes.
"L-Look, I get you're upset, but trust me! I know HOW to steal the distorted desire!" he promised, eyeing the livid looking Ryuji and Neku. "B-Besides, aren't you guys gonna need some expert help for this?".
"We've got Riku and the other Persona users…pretty sure we've the expert side covered," Sora reminds, putting his hands behind his head, "But I guess we need someone who knows more about the Metaverse".
"Exactly! See? Sora knows what he's talking about!".
"Is it true you guys are getting expelled?".
The gang turn around to see Ann standing there, and to Ren's worry, looking even more defeated than she did yesterday. When they faced her, she reveals the whole school was talking about what happened with them and Kamoshida, much to Ryuji's frustration, knowing the bastard teacher was the one who spread the story as soon as he could. Likely to try and strengthen his side to get rid of the three students. With a sneer, Ryuji asked her if she just came to tell them the obvious. Instead, she asked if they were going to do something to Kamoshida, and wanted in.
Shocking the party, she continued. "I can't just sit back and do nothing after what he's done to Shiho!". Kairi looked at the girl, admiring her for the courage, but Ryuji however told her to stay out of it, that none of this had anything to do with her. She tried to argue but Ryuji snapped at her, yelling for her to just stay out of their way and back off. The two stared down each other, fury in Ann's eyes while raw stone determination in Ryuji's. She growls before storming off, leaving the party alone.
"That was harsh…" Morgana commented.
"But needed. Much as I understand her, we can't drag her into this," Neku agrees, "Mean, you really wanna drag her into the Metaverse?".
"Hope she doesn't do anything stupid. Women can be bolder than men when it comes to that," Morgana remarked. Sora casually looked at Kairi when the cat finished that sentence, and the girl looked back at him with a small glare, daring him to say anything. He casually shrugged with a knowing smile and turned back to the others. Ren pulls his phone out and says he's going to contact the other Persona users and tell them to meet them in the alleyway near the school entrance, while Kairi texted Roxas and the other non-Persona users what the plan was.
"Real shame they can't fight like us…they'd make this a lot easier," Kairi laments, thinking on how skilled Xion and Roxas are.
"We'll be fine with the nine of us," Ren says confidently, "So long as Morgana knows what he's doing anyways…".
"…my point still stands," Kairi remarked.
*Alleyway*
Once the other three showed up, Morgana already started with a bit of info. Once they cross over to the other side, they'll start treating each other like phantom thieves. Ryuji asked, and doing so, Morgana gave them a brief explanation on the term, basically once they enter the Metaverse they'll change from regular high school students to those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal treasure. The teens mostly liked the idea, praising it and even got excited for it, while the three guardians subtly smirked at each other.
"Right so just so we're on the same page, all we have to do is say the school, Kamoshida, and the castle, then we end up in the Metaverse?" Rhyme asked. Morgana nodded, telling them that once they have all three requirements, they can come and go to the Metaverse Palaces with ease. Then Riku asked Morgana if they used these codes anywhere else bar the school or would they have to be at least within range of the building to enter, to which Morgana confirmed they'd have to be close to get to the Palace, otherwise they could wind up miles away from the location.
However just as Ren inputs the command, they were all unaware of Ann watching them…and being unintentionally dragged along…
*Palace*
Standing once more in the bizarre world, the school building reborn as a castle while the world is more darker and crimson tinted, the gang dressed in their new gear while Morgana takes on his cartoonish form. They all take a few moments to take in their new looks, Kairi smiling happily at hers and even Riku complimenting the sleek and even stylish attire he donned. "So before we go, can I ask how this works?" Riku asked, turning his arms to look at the sleeves.
"You mean the clothes?" Morgana asked, "Well their basically our armour-
"No not that, I got the gist of their use but…do our Persona's influence our attire too?" he asked.
"Kinda. I mean, you three had two uniforms that looked more closer to them…" Morgana says, scratching his ear, "How that happened I dunno…".
"We can worry about all that later…right now we've gotta start planning on how we approach this," Ren says, tugging on the end of his red glove, "Where do we start?".
"WHAT IS THIS!?".
The party jumped in surprise and snapped their heads to see an astounded looking Ann standing there, blue eyes wide with alarm. When Ryuji spoke her name, she immediately recognized his voice in an instant, and then slowly put together the others despite how well their uniforms hidden their identities. Though Morgana quietly grumbled Sora's team stood out the most, namely their hair styles. Kairi quietly remarked one of them had to look stylish. Ryuji questioned why she was here, but like everyone else's first time, she had no idea how she came here and demanded answers to the castle.
While she was frantically questioning everything and anything, the mascot of the team was eyeing her with love hearts in his cartoony eyes, whispering her name. Neku rolled his eyes at the furball's poor organization of priorities, then turned to probably the only person they could rely on to figure this out, Rhyme. The girl theorised that the app must have dragged Ann along with them, reminding everyone that was how she first came to the Palace, and if she was right in assuming multiple people could use it, then it should stand to reason multiple people could be, willing or otherwise, be brought too.
"Maybe we should watch out for bystanders in future…" Sora whispered, looking at Neku, who nodded in agreement.
"Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?" Ann shouts, "How…what? What is all this!?".
The team share glances, before ultimately they unanimously agreed that Ann had to go, now. Ryuji being the one to voice the party's commands do nothing to sway the girl, even more stubbornly refused to go. And like clockwork, Ryuji and she got into a heavy argument about leaving, making the others watch out for shadows patrolling or even hearing their argument from a distance. And Morgana being the one to tell the poor girl this, made her shout in fear, pointing at the little guy. More questions poured from her mouth along with calling him a "monster cat".
Morgana deflated greatly from that comment, even shrinking.
Rhyme pleaded with the girl that this was not the place for her to be having a meltdown nor a hill to die on moment, and for her own well-being she had to leave before someone with less than noble intentions finds them. But again, Ann refused to so much as compromise, demanding they explain what was going on here, raising her voice. Riku grunts in annoyance, muttering their island friends weren't this bratty back in the day. Kairi elbowed his softly, before looking to Ren for an idea.
"If she won't go willingly…then force is our only option," he sighed, pushing his mask up, "Hopefully she can use the same entrance as an exit".
Ann opened her mouth again to argue, only to be unceremoniously heaved onto Beat's shoulder with ease, and he carries her to the entrance, saying they don't have time to waste on her being a brat. Indigent, Ann begins to pummel his back and kicks her legs, demanding he put her down before she got herself down and kicked his backside. He groans in annoyance, before threatening to just throw her into the river (moat as Rhyme cheerfully corrects) and leave her for the fishes. Lucky for the blonde, the way in worked perfectly as a way out as the moment he planted her there, she fell through an invisible wall and vanished.
"Aight, she's gone," Beat says, waving towards the others. He returned to them while Ryuji remarks they should follow Sora's advice and be more careful when using the app. Morgana chastised the party for not knowing their very own tools, remarking he's only watched them use it and yet for some reason he knew more about it. The humans sheepishly shrugged while Neku groaned impatiently, remarking on Morgana being useless when it came to Ann, to which made the cat chastise Beat for such manhandling of a woman like Ann.
"Yo, you says we gotta get her to safety ya? How the hell did'ja expect me to get her ass going? Ask nicely?" he challenges while scratching his neck.
"Beat's handling COULD have been a little more graceful but he's right," Rhyme says, "We don't have any time to waste, and Ann would have been a liability at best, and a target at worst had Beat done nothing".
"She's got a point," Neku agrees, "So lets stop wasting time and get going".
"Right, right," Morgana sighed.
The party head for the main entrance of the castle after ensuring Ann didn't somehow return to the Metaverse, following Morgana closely while sticking to the shadows as best as they could in such a large group. Once they were at the main gates, they see knights patrolling the grounds, while above the tall doors were more of the heartless jesters hanging above within the shadows. Neku looked to Sora and Ren, quietly asking them if they should take out the guards, but Ren shook his head, gesturing their original exit/entrance.
There are several medieval construction tools and even materials around the broken walls and several slaves/students were busying with reconstruction, and if Ren was right, the moment the team expose themselves they'll run for Kamoshida and possibly more knights. Ryuji growled impatiently, saying that would be the perfect outcome, bring the jerk to them and just beat the hell out of him until he changes to which Kairi reminds him Morgana said they have to steal his heart, not mug him. But first she stressed they need a way into the castle first and foremost.
Beat huffed in agreement, then looked up the wall of their original entrance, and sees there is a round glass window, perfect size for everyone within the party. He points to it for the team, and Morgana gets a cat-like grin on his face. He gestured the party to follow his lead, and like a living shadow, moved so quickly it was like a shadowy figment took place. Using barrels, then leaping onto the roof of the building they were hiding by, he scales the rooftop with ease and grace of an actual cat, then perched himself perfectly on the rooftop.
Morgana waved for the party to follow him, ignoring their "are you serious" looks. Once more the cat was thinking too far ahead and neglected to inform his new partners in crime of how he was able to pull this off. Sora's party, however, could see this ability worked very similar to their own usually abilities, and once he gave Kairi a questioning look, she confidently nodded. Together, the trio of guardians manage to scale up to Morgana, but with more flips and tricks in doing so, glowing in stylish dark blue outlines.
"Show offs…" Neku chuckled lowly, before he flicks out one pin from his pocket, "Leo" and then clenched it in his hand. He vanished in a blink of an eye and reappears behind Kairi, spooking her while smugly rolling the pin along his fingers. Below them, Rhyme is picked up by Beat and his reaper wings spread out, granting him flight and he easily ascends to the rooftop, gently lowering Rhyme to the rooftop with a cocky grin.
"…you can fly?" Rhyme asked.
"Who said I can't?" he rebuked.
"…why didn't you…oh never mind…".
Finally, after some concentration and a little bit of help from their Personas, the other two teenagers manage to shadow step towards the others, moving like shadows in the dark and meet up with the others, just as Rhyme stepped onto the ledge of the rooftop and placed her fan atop of the perch. With a quiet call for her Persona, the fan shines dimly in frosty blue and then a long beam of ice attached to the perch begins to stretch up to the window. With a nod, the team uses their unique abilities to slide up the ice-rail and skilfully slipped through the window and into the rafters.
Quietly crouching towards the edge of the floor they were currently on, they see Kamoshida addressing his knights in the grand hall. Evidently regardless of how loud his bark was and with all that confidence, it seemed the king was "amused" by the intruders from the day before. But he refuses to allow them to ransack his castle, ordering his guards to strengthen security and even offered a reward for the person who brought him their heads. The knights cried out for their king, praising him and brown nosing.
"He can act all smug he wants, he's scared of us," Neku notes, gesturing the amount of guards.
"Hey Morgana…can't we just go and beat the crap out of him and call it a day?" Ryuji asked, gesturing Kamoshida.
"Are you out of your mind, idiot? Look at all those guards! I dunno about you but I sure as hell don't want a repeat of last time!" Morgana lashed out angrily. Even with Sora and everyone else here, it'd be too dangerous to risk such an open attack like this. Plus, he added once again that beating up Kamoshida wasn't going to help them if Ryuji wanted him to confess his crimes, that if that was their goal, they needed to steal his materialized desire, the treasure. When the question regarding the treasure popped up, Rhyme deduces that based on the make of the castle, it could be in either a vault, in a throne room or even somewhere nobody would logically look.
The dungeon for example would be a good place to hide it, but Ren reminds them they found nothing like that while they were looking for the students during their second time here, scratching that. Riku added in that if Kamoshida's arrogance was a big as his ego, he wouldn't bother with a secured vault of sorts if he thought everyone was so beneath him. A good argument and one Rhyme agreed with, stressing that having no true security of his treasure would be a vain show case of superiority and confidence. Meaning logically and based on Kamoshida's arrogance, he must have his treasure in the throne room.
"Okay, so where's the throne room?" Sora asked, folding his arms.
"While usually a throne is situated in the back of the castle, or in some castles, it's the main hall," Rhyme explained, "But here however, it could be anywhere based on Kamoshida's cognition".
"OH! What about the tallest tower in the castle?" Kairi suggested, "Think about, he always looks down on people he deems lesser than himself, like Ryuji and Mishima. So, in his own castle, where could he look down upon EVERYONE beneath him?".
"The tallest room, where it'd be a pain in the ass to reach, where you'd have to fight through security, and likely the most secured location along with making the heist even more difficult…yeah, sounds right to me," Ren agreed.
"Perfect. So now all we gotta do is secure a route to the treasure, then we can plan how we'll take it," Morgana says, clapping his paws together, "Looks like we're making progress, Joker".
The party blinked, then faced the cat and Ren, Kairi asking him why he choose to call Ren that suddenly, Beat asked if it were a nickname. Morgana scoffed at the two, demanding they not refer to it in such a lame way. He explained it was a code name, that only an idiot would use their real name when stealing, and he wasn't down for it.
"The hell does it matter to you? No one is gonna search for a cat if something gets stolen," casually rebukes the orange teen. Morgana again insists he isn't a cat but was ignored by Rhyme's point. While he could have said it better, Rhyme agreed with Morgana that using their real names wasn't the most sound of logic, and there is no telling what sort of ramifications that could occur if they all started to use their real names here. Though Neku pointed out Kamoshida already knows about Ryuji and like the rest on the first visit, Rhyme points out he had no memory of them afterward and for the sake of keeping everyone safe would prefer they be more cautious.
"Rhyme's right. Last thing we need is for him to have more leverage against us, considering we're trying to save Ren and Ryuji from getting expelled," Riku concurs, "Better to have code-names if we're gonna be calling out to each other in battle or exploring".
"But why "Joker"?" Sora asked, looking at the furball.
"Well, he's our wild card. Plus I got a good feeling once we let him loose on our enemies, he'll show off," bragged Morgana.
"Joker…heh, I kinda like it," Ren admits, "Sounds good to me".
"As for Ryuji…" the cat starts, but Ryuji halts him. He assured the cat he'd come up with one for himself, claiming it'd have to come from himself. The cat shrugged and says it was his call, so the blonde pondered what to call himself, saying the mask was a big part of him so he wanted something to symbolize it. Then Beat asked why not call himself "Skull", and the punk grinned that shark like smile, agreeing with it. Considering his thug like look and how he had a pirate based Persona, he agreed it suited him to a T.
"What about this guy?" Ryuji asked, looking at Morgana.
"How about "Mona"?" Kairi offered, "Its simple and easy to remember, plus suits him".
"…I guess if everyone finds it easier, then whatever, I'll go with Mona…" Morgana huffed, crossing his arms, "But you six need a name too".
"Well…what should I call myself?" Sora asked, hands behind his head with a thoughtful look in his eyes. Some offered a few that was more poking fun at his hair or smiling tendencies, while Kairi said "Hero" would probably too much of a giveaway to their enemies, and Ren agreeing that it'd conflict with their current occupation as literal thieves. Soon Neku scoffed and says: "Why not King? Remember your first form, you kinda looked like a king, and that Bahamut Persona had the regal look…".
" "King"? Hmm…yeah…yeah I like it!" Sora says, "Alrighty then, here on out, I'm King!". Kairi giggles and smiles warmly at him, he was already unknowingly king of her heart so it suited him. Riku folds his arms in thought during Sora repeating his code-name a few times, before he nodded and says: "Then I'll go by Nightmare, since I've got that knight look down." Some snickered at the "try-hard" name of his, before Riku remarked how he was able to take down the heartless and knights with ease, making everyone shut their mouths.
"Oh, oh! Me next!" pleads Kairi with a little bounce, eager to get her codename as much as the others. The boys struggled to come up with one for her, some referring to her swords, mask and Morgana even trying to beautify her, to which she frowned upon and asked for something that didn't give her the vibe of some generic anime girl. Rhyme tries a few names but most of them went over the girl's head, but then Sora snapped his fingers and suggested: "Scarlet".
"Ya know? Cause you're mostly in red and have red hair?" he offered. Kairi frowns and opened her mouth, before pausing and then looking at herself, then reflecting on her second form before grinning. "Scarlet…dancing on the battlefield while bathing in the red of her foes…yes, I like the sound of that!" she chirped with a big grin, clapping her hands together. She looked at the Players, Rhyme already deciding on the code-name "Tzu", based on the famous strategist Sun Tzu since she was the strategist of the party.
"Hey, not a bad idea," Neku compliments, "The brains of the operation and all".
Beat wracked his brain for a code-name and refusing anything relating to a street thug from Mona, he tried to think of one that represented his way of fighting. In the end, Ren offered the name "Jet" to him, since his speed was somewhat akin to a speeding fighter jet and well, he can fly. Beat grinned at the option, and with his wings and board, he could pass off for it. Finally came Neku, who had already chosen a name for himself.
"Reaper. Since I've got the skull and we're gonna be claiming a few shadow's lives in the process of the heist anyways, may as well have the name to look the part of a reaper," he says with a smirk. Beat and Rhyme looked at him with concern, the name holding a lot of weight from previous encounters of those who bore that name. The gang affirmed their choice of names and were ready to get a move on for the treasure, but Kairi points at Kamoshida again, making the gang look. A heartless jester was dancing near him, twitching with wide yellow eyes frantically looking around.
"Humph, those brats don't scare me. They even so much as take a step towards my castle, my knights will skewer them. Sides, we've cut off their main entry point anyways, now way they're getting back in," bragged Kamoshida, crossing his arm victoriously as he stands above his men. He then waves his hand dismissively at the creature, commanding it to head back to the dungeons and keep their buddies on standby in case the thieves return.
"I don't want any chances, if those brats come back I want you and your buddies to be ready. No one leaves my castle this time, got it?" Kamoshida asked.
The creature twitches in confirmation, then it hisses for something, making the king roll his eyes before calling for a knight. A knight on standby jogged to the ruler and handed him a silver box with a golden lid, and then the king hands it to the heartless. "There you go, as we agreed," the king sighed. The creature bows before it leaves Kamoshida. The king huffs and marched off to wherever he was going, leaving the thieves to plan. The party watch the heartless merrily skip away to its dungeon and companions, leaving the gang to stand and watch in confusion.
Riku glanced at the two guardians of light, none recalling anyone having an actual conversation with the creatures of the dark, let alone actually arranging deals with them.
"What's a "heartless?" Ren questioned, "Mona, any idea what those are?".
"I've never seen them before…I thought the last ones were just super shadows from Kamoshida. But if he's got more under his control…" he explained, "Gah, we're gonna have a lot on our plates with the treasure hunting already…".
"Do you think Kamoshida has someone helping him with them? Like somebody with power of those freaks, like how a Ruler has power over the shadows?" Rhyme suggested.
"Yeah, that's a possibility we can't overlook. We'll go and see if there is someone in the dungeon helping him," Riku offers, "Much as I don't like splitting up the team so soon, the sooner we get an idea on Kamoshida's new friends and potentially a new legion of guards the better we have to deal with them".
"Then splitting up is a necessary plan," Ren says, "King, Scarlet and you will go find out what Kamoshida has in store. The rest of us will go and make that route to the treasure,".
"Wait, just those three? Yo, that ain't gonna cut it!" Beat says, "What if he's got an ambush?"
"We're already under a time limit, Jet, sooner we deal with this the better. Sides, we can't sneak around with a group this big anyway," Riku argued, "Plus if Kamoshida DOES have something worse than just shadows, it'd make this job a lot easier if we just take them down".
Ren nods in agreement, while not liking the idea they let just the three of them go alone, this take down would not only put them at ease from reinforcements, but it would also give them a chance to make their way to the treasure or at least make some progress. After some hesitation from the others, everyone eventually agreed that splitting up was their best option to take down two birds with one stone. With that sorted, Sora and company skilfully leapt and danced in the air until they reached the stairway to the dungeons, while Ren and his party headed off for the treasure.
*Entrance*
"What's up with this app?" Ann asked, looking at her phone, confused. She looks up from her screen to see the castle ahead of her once again and then takes a breath, least she was back to the start, and no sign of Ren's team at least gave her a chance to finally investigate this place. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Ann strode forward towards the castle, her intention clear in the fire of her eyes, hands clenched into fists with squared shoulders. No matter what was going to happen, no matter who would get in her way, she was going to find a way to bring Kamoshida down.
Except for…
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?".
Ann yelped in pain when she feels a pair of feet slamming into her back, knocking out every bit of air from her lungs as she flew into the air. She falls flat on her face and whimpered in pain, turning to see her attacker is none other then Shiki, glaring at the girl with obvious annoyance and fury in her brown eyes. Mr Mew held in her arms while she stares down her friend in question before she finally takes in her surroundings and slowly the anger is subsided with shock and worry.
"W-What the hell?" she squeaked, taking in the world she was trapped in.
"Sheesh Misaki…when did you take up drop kicks?" Ann groaned, stretching and hoping the girl didn't crush her spinal cord. Who knew such a small girl could pack so much "oof" in her kicks?
This jab made Shiki snap back into reality and she immediately lectures Ann, demanding how she dragged them to this bizarre world. Ann weakly reveals that after school and getting chewed out by Ryuji, she followed him. There in the alleyway before she confronted them, she heard him say Kamoshida's name, a castle, crime and the school building, and then she was there with the others, dressed up for Halloween. Grumpily adding Beat man handled her like some bar owner kicking out a drunken patron.
After that, she tried to find a way back into this place, and then when she checked her phone she found a strange app on it she never downloaded. And when she added in the list Sakamoto listed, she ended up here. "I dunno how you ended up here with me…" Ann confesses.
"Ugh…its just like Rhyme the second time they came back here…" Shiki groaned, "She said she was trying to talk to Beat before they entered this place, and she was dragged along…".
"Wait…so you guys KNEW this whole time about this place?!" Ann accused, pointing at the girl, "Why the hell didn't you tell me?". Flustered, Shiki rebuked her question as an answer, that how could she approach her and Shiho and talk about a place like this without sounding like she belonged in an asylum? She didn't even have a way into this place before Ann stupidly send themselves here, and now for all she knew they were stuck here until either they find Neku and the others or figure it out for themselves.
Shiki frowns in worry, immediately thinking about those shadows Neku warned her about, and worst of all she and Ann were totally defenceless. She looked at the way they came from and tried to exit, but upon taking a step towards the drawbridge, she was repelled back onto her rear by an invisible wall. She yelps in pain and rubs her nose, whimpering in pain as Ann screamed her name, rushing to her side and helping her up. Lowering her hand, Shiki laments that their exit was cut off, and chances were the app was their only way out.
"Princess!?".
They jumped and looked to see three knights running towards them, both tensing up and even backed away from them. The one in the middle questioned why she was outside of the castle and away from "Lord" Kamoshida, making Ann and Shiki glance at each other. But before they could explain, the knights immediately turned their swords onto the younger girl, paging her as another rat who was trying to rob their king's castle. Shiki tries to sway them, but Ann quickly shouts for her to run, quickly jumping in front of her to stop the knights.
Ruefully and regretfully, Shiki quickly scampers away from the group and towards the left, running from the knights as they grab for the "princess". One of them begins to chase the brown-haired teen, ordering her to halt as they round around the castle moat, the girl looking around for an escape route or somewhere she could squeeze through to escape the pursuing knight, anything would be helpful. The girl makes a turn around a building just before the knight could grab her collar, making her sprint even faster while yelling at them to leave her alone.
She looks back to see if they were any closer to her, but then as she stepped onto a platform half covered by a tarp, she falls through it with a scream. Breaking wood and tearing through the cloth of the tarps, she crashes through thin platforms and her body disturbs the flimsy wooden structures, bringing them all down with her until she crashed onto the stone ground, curling into a ball as the structures around her collapses around her.
Shiki hisses in pain as the destruction finishes, she is weighed down by several wooden posts and some tarp covering her, but even as the deafening destructive noises subsided, she could hear the clanking of someone's heavy footsteps and freezes on the spot. The girl holds her breath when she hears the knight calling to their companions, shouting that the intruder was dead. She guess they must have figured that she wouldn't have survive such a destructive escape and based on how far she fell and the amount of debris on her, it was a fair assumption that a teenager like her wouldn't even have survived crashing through the structure.
When she hears the clanking of metal fade away, she dared to peek and see the hole she fell through, and the darkened crimson cloud filled skies were no knights. Groaning in pain, Shiki crawled out of her debris and rested against a wall, whimpering in pain from the fall, checking to see if heavens forbid she broke something during her less than graceful descent to potential doom. Her clothes had tears and she sees her legs were badly scrapped by the fall, arms aching in agony and she could feel a dull hum in her head, and even her glasses had a crack that nearly blinded her right eye.
Luckily, Mr Mew was unharmed, only a small tear on his round head and bit of a cut on his left ear. She tries to stand up, but almost buckled immediately onto her knees and caught herself by catching the wall, whimpering in pain. She was in a terrible state and with her injuries, she couldn't scale the walls to escape this place. The structure could have helped her, even as broken as they were she could use those old gym rock-climbing days she took part in with Eri in the past to good use. But her injuries were already bad enough, one mistake could either make them worse or she could fall for the final time.
"What do I do…? M-Maybe Ann escaped and found the others, she could tell them about…me," she says with desperation before she slumped onto the ground, defeated. She couldn't believe her luck, that again she was in a situation where all she cared about was herself, not even thinking of how Ann must be doing or the others, especially with Kamoshida. Selfishly thinking of herself first, and now she would be forced to sit here in wallow in self-pity to await for someone to rescue her. But what could she do?
If she were Eri, she'd climb her way out of this pit, wounds be damned. Rhyme would have thought of a way out by constructing something from all this, and she didn't even need to think how the boys would do it. But Shiki Misaki? All she was ever good for was either trying to be someone else or be the damsel in distress, always needing someone to help her up when she got so useless. Trying to stop Ann from coming here was a mistake, especially when she was no more of use than throwing a pebble at a tank.
"I can't do anything here…i-is this…the end?" she asked quietly.
As she lowers herself into a ball, she looked at Mr Mew, and somehow she started to think about Neku. Their conversation from the day before twinkles in her mind, those doubts that weighed her down ever more were quietly pushed aside with ease by his voice, his confidence in her. Something she still is unable to have for herself, something that even with all that learning and self-discovery she still can't seem to grasp even now. But when she looked to the skies, she clenched her fists.
Even when they were first thrown into this world, the others didn't bend knee and gave up. No, they refused to let despair bind their hearts, they pushed on. If she just sat here and let those stupid thoughts get the better of her, then she never deserved to win the game, she didn't deserve this bond with Eri, and she would never have deserved to be friends with Neku and the others. She pushes herself off the ground, threw Mr Mew on her back and secured his legs around her waist, then after some intakes of breath, she started to climb.
The rocks from this room hadn't been smoothed out yet thankfully, and some structures were at a distance from the ones she collapsed, meaning she could at least use them to try and make some leeway before resorting to rock climbing. It wasn't easy however with her injuries, she would hiss in pain when she stretched for a adjacent rock, and exerting did nothing for her injuries but with gritted teeth and stubbornness born from Neku and Eri's influence.
"I can do it…I can…" she thinks, "They all believe in me, even when I don't…but not anymore…I'm not going to let this stop me!".
Closer to the top, she reached for the ring of the hole she fell in, and grabbed onto the ground, pulling herself up with all the remnants of her strength, groaning and grunting while sweating in exertion until finally she laid on her stomach upon the surface. She pants tiredly, crying lightly as she smiled, proud. "I…I did it…" she wheezed.
"So you have".
Immediately Shiki's eyes shot open as a inhuman pain bellowed in her mind, making her clutch her agonized skull and rolled onto her back, thrashing.
"Took your sweet time to lass, always looking at yourself like a piece a shite, and always looking at the backs of others! Yet look at ye now! Surmounted that little stumble, without aid of others".
Shiki looked at the sky, then sees from the corner of her eye slowly standing up was her toy, as the voice boomed in her head. "Ye don't need to be anybody else but the lass ya see in the mirror, are ye gonna shake her hand and accept who ye are, or is the wee lass gonna climb back down in the hole?". No, no more Shiki swore. She refused to bend to those doubts again, she knew her worth that was hiding away because of her self-doubts and lack of faith in her own abilities, her own self. If her friends believed in her, why should she doubt them and herself?
"AYE! THERE IT IS! Cast off these worthless doubts in your mind! Force them to walk the plank and raise ye sails! I am thou, thou art I! Free thyself from the role ye forced upon thyself!".
Reaching for her face, Shiki ripped off her mask…
*Dungeons*
Like thieves in the night, the trio of guardians reached the dungeon were Kamoshida originally had his subjects tortured after carefully tailing the man in crimson, taking out the guards who stood in their way as quietly as they could. They made a few stumbles here and there, this was a massive change compared to how they usually dealt with enemies in their past, and if Riku thought Sora was clumsy, Kairi clearly came prepared to amaze them with her performance. He wished she took into consideration of how long her blade was vs the height of the ceiling.
But a few missteps aside, they managed to reach the torture room, IE "Kamoshida's Training Hall of Love", and carefully entered. To their concern, the cells that once held the prisoners were empty and devoid of both students and even the torture machines. Riku confirmed this was the exact same room Ren and the others came to the second time they came here, assuring his two partners they didn't take a wrong turn. Kairi speculated that perhaps there was another dungeon or maybe the victims were just thrown into another cell, that no "training" was happening today.
But within the cells, they see the jester from earlier leap from the shadows and stand before its brethren, a total of six colourful jesters dancing around the area like willing lapdogs waiting for their commander to bless them with orders. The party of three crouched near the walls of the gates to spy on them, each of them sensing something afoul in the air. Heartless like these don't just work with someone with a weak heart, and in this distorted world Kamoshida's heart should be impossible to claim by even the darkness. Like Morgana told them if stealing a heart was going to be so complex for them, then surely even the heartless would struggle.
Then a corridor of darkness opens, and a shadowy figure stands within the corridor, the heartless bowing before them while the messenger holds up the box to it. The shadowy figure takes the box and opens the lid, plucking out what looked like a pink shard of something. Except Kairi and Sora possibly knew what that shard is, as both have seen its form before. The shadowy figure nodded, and the shard is swallowed by the darkness.
"Our transactions with Kamoshida have reached their ends. Those who remain here are disposable, keep our best on standby should the king be willing to bargain with us again," they command, their voice warped by the darkness and made them impossible to figure out, "Above all else, the guardians of light are our main threat. Ensure whatever Kamoshida intends to do ends with their lives, understand?". The heartless bows once more as the corridor disappears, and soon the minions of the darkness fly up to the ceilings and disappear.
With the heartless gone, the trio stood out from their cover, taking in the scene before them.
"That shard…that looked like shards of a heart," Sora says, remembering the whole ordeal he endured before. He turned to the others and wondered if that was a part of Kamoshida's heart, to which Riku debunks quickly. The master reminds them of how big of a coward that coach is, and there would be no chance he'd do something that would in any shape or form do him harm or cost him his castle. Kairi wonders if the shard could be from someone else's heart before remembering that anyone else bar themselves and Kamoshida were cognitions, not real.
"That shadow though…anyone you know?" he asked, looking at Sora. "Nope, never seen that one before. Besides, it can't be from the organization right? We beat them all…".
"Do you think its someone from the other team? Remember when Mr H said that we're in a game between two people. Maybe that was someone from the other end?" Kairi offers, "I mean we don't have much to go on but still…".
"You're probably on the right path…but until we know more about this, we'll just have to play it by ear until we confront Kamoshida," Riku says, "But now we know where the heartless are coming from, so next time we see the shadow, we go for the kill. Got it?". His two friends nodded and together they rushed off to reunite with the others.
A/N:
Short one this time. Sorry about this, but I'm just hitting too many walls at the moment. But worry not, I'll be producing a better one next time!
Questions:
Q1: Thoughts?
Q2: Code-Names?
Q3: Curious about Ann and Shiki?
Q4: New enemy?
Q5: What do you wanna see next?
I PROMISE I will be posting the next notes soon, I just need to get a few things in this story done first.
Anyways everyone, thanks for reading and stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!