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 Thirty-Two:
Cold Vengeance.
The newly awoken blade of Yusuke cuts and slices through the guards like they were of paper, so blindly swift and clean it was as if the sudden turned Phantom Thief was attacking with the air itself, slicing and cutting down guard after guard like a samurai for all his life. He spins around to slice both arm and baton of a sneaking guard and ended that shadow's short life span, quickly shadow dashing through the guards while cutting them down.
Grabbing his mask during his flighty dash, he calls forth his Persona to encase his enemies in a thin sheen of ice. Five of these guards were frozen stiff and struggled to escape, but their futile attempts were met by Yusuke's blade, and with a single quick draw from his sword he sliced them in two, lifting their upper halves in the air before the returned to nothingness. He turns to see two Koppa Tengus charging at him from the air.
But they were intercepted by Naminé who dives from the air and kicked one straight in the stomach so hard she had nearly penetrated its gut. Using the gut as a step, she spun around and with overhead kick she slammed her top foot unto the neck other. Her attacks sends them rocketing to the walls and ceiling while she back flips repeatedly until she gracefully lands on her feet. Turning around with a high flying kick she knocks aside another guard and kicked another's weapon out their hands. She then kicked it in the stomach then back flips with her armoured foot smashing the mask and skull of her enemy.
She crouches down just after her flip and behind her Yusuke slashes a myriad of their foes into ribbons. He aims his hand and encases more in ice, then ducks as Naminé rises up and kicks high to send off an arc of mist from her heel. The mist then fires a barrage of icicles upon the frozen shadows, stabbing them and freezing their forms. Naminé snapped her head towards the remaining guard of Madarame, a Ippon-Datara. Hulking compared to the two while wielding a blacksmiths hammer, it howled at them for their disrespect for Madarame.
Naminé and her new partner only readied themselves, the last obstacle between them and the man who had destroyed so many artists for the sake of his vanity and greed. Yusuke and Naminé dashed towards the blacksmith, Personas behind them just as Yusuke called out: "Sukukaja!".
Their bodies were temporarily shinning in a green light and then once it vanished, so did the two thieves. Only for Naminé to suddenly reappear like lightning in the darkest of nights right before the shadow, and as her legs was coated in ice, she unleashes a barrage of kicks that was so quick she looked like she had more than one leg stomping on the monster before her. Each stamp of her armoured and frozen foot pummels the shadow and even forced it back with the momentum of her newly acquired strength. Then she sweep kicked its legs, knocking off its feet into the air. With one single upward kick, Naminé struck its stomach so hard she probably shattered its spine.
She sends it flying into the air just for Yusuke to appear right above Naminé with his sword sheathed. "Goemon! Giant Slice!" he commands. Together the two rebels of society draw Yusuke's sword with his combined speed and strength to sever the guardian of Madarame with enough force to split in half but also slice the ceiling and probably the second floor ceiling. The halved shadow fades into nothing as Yusuke joins Naminé on the ground, panting and slightly hunched over while the girl pants heavily and almost rests her hands on her knees. Yet behind their masks they stare down Madarame's arrogant stance. Even without his guards to shield his from his vengeful student and his new friend, the arrogance seeped from him.
It seemed his confidence wasn't out of sheer arrogance however, because Yusuke fell onto his knees while he clutched his arm, grunting out in pain. Naminé turned to him and only then she both realizes and remembers what happened to those who first awaken their Personas. Combined with the awakening and his, honestly, overuse of his newfound powers, Yusuke is in a state far fit from battle. "You…Yusuke, you've just thrown your bright future down the drain," Madarame growls, and then with a step, he continues: "I'll destroy every chance you ever get at becoming an artist!".
Naminé stepped forward however, eyes cold as ice. "I won't let you get that chance Madarame!" she warned, "We know who you really are, and no matter what it takes, you won't destroy another artists' future!".
"You fool, you will rue the day you dared defy me…" Madarame warned just as more shadows appeared, "But you, Naminé…I won't even give the blessing of failing to stop me!". The shadows leap at the girl just as she was about to call for Shiva's aid.
"Persona!".
Appearing in front of Naminé was Arséne and Captain Kidd, and together the two legendary characters cleave through the shadows. She looks up to see Ren and the others leap over Madarame and re-join them, Ryuji quickly grabbing Yusuke and helping him to his feet while throwing his arm over his shoulder. Ren turns to Morgana who pops out a small black pellet and with only final glance to Madarame, Joker flashes his signature grin.
"You're next, Madarame," he warns just as Morgana slammed the pellet onto the ground. A thick plume of black smoke shrouds the thieves and startles the shadows and Madarame. He curses them as soon as the smoke disappears and not a single thief was in sight, realizing ever so slowly that perhaps his golden age of fortune may at long last be at stake.
Or worse…nearing its end.
*Outside*
Once Ryuji was out of the museum, the gang gathered up their tools and shut the skylight, leaving no trace of them being here or even how they managed to enter the vain museum. Naminé rubbed her head with a small hiss of exhaustion and strain, only able to stand thanks to Morgana handing her some medicine and like because she hadn't strain herself compared to her fellow artist. Said artist was resting against an AC unit with Ann, rubbing his leg and hunched over.
As she expected, the moment he asked why his body was unable to move, Ann had explained to him that his combined awakening and usage of his Persona was far more than he could take for a first timer. He coldly belittled himself for this disgrace, likely because both he and Naminé had a golden opportunity to teach Madarame a very late lesson in humility, but because of his limitations they were denied this vengeance. Naminé however was glad they couldn't finish him off, especially if true justice is what they were seeking for those who suffered under Madarame's hand.
She approached the blue tinted haired teenager as his face was glued to the ground, his hands clasped and elbows on his knees in deep thought. Naminé rubbed her arm and then with a hesitant sigh, she asked: "You knew for quite some time, that those rumours weren't just that, didn't you?".
"I am no fool," Yusuke says with a shake of his head, "For years we've had strange people come to us, and the plagiarism was an everyday affair". Hearing this Ryuji almost barked the same question they were thinking, but Ren grabbed his arm to stop him, shaking his head. Yusuke continued that despite these constant accusations and even with all certainty in the world about Madarame plagiarising, he couldn't himself admit that the very man he owed his life to was committing such evils.
"Dude…" Ryuji says, his temper cooling to a chill.
"But why didn't you leave?" Ann asked.
"He painted the Sayuri, and on top of that I owe him a great debt…" Yusuke said, and upon Ryuji asking for clarification by insinuating he was raised by the man, Yusuke nodded. He never knew his actual bio father, having been raised by his mother alone until her accident when he was three years old. That was when Madarame had taken him in, as he was helping his mother at the time, at least that's what Yusuke heard back then.
"Do you…even remember your mother?" Naminé asked, and as she feared he didn't. "I did everything I could for Sensei. I thought of him as a father…but then he changed". He clenched his fist in anger as his tone changed into one of restraint rage, growling about how he would use Sayuri, the very foundation of his art, to such depravities. Ryuji sympathised with the poor student, pointing out how much he had been through.
Yusuke then confessed that the moment Naminé had brought up plagiarism, he knew deep in his heart she, and the others, was right. He was running from the truth, that the illusion of his Sensei was finally shedding away and in desperation to deny it he vehemently denied all their words and proof of his master's evil doings. Hanging his head, he apologizes for all this. To his surprise, Ren pats his shoulder and smirked.
"No hard feelings," he says, "You know now just how horrible he is, and has been to his students". He then folds his arms and asked his new friend what did he want to do now that he's seen everything. Yusuke looks down for a moment, and then confessed he is grateful for having a chance to face what he had been so determined to deny, but Ryuji argued the boy was just too serious for his own well-being. He even encouraged to think like Ryuji, going with the flow as opposed to over-thinking the whole thing.
Ann pleaded Yusuke do not replicate Ryuji's thinking.
"What are going to do now?" Morgana asked.
Yusuke laments that answer is beyond him right now but luckily in a moment of clarity Ryuji laments that while the Madarame Yusuke believed to be is gone and changed, they still have a way to get some justice. "If we can change his heart, we can get hm to confess what he's been doing to every student he's ever had and then some," Ryuji says. Yusuke turned to Naminé, recalling one of them saying something about changing hearts.
"Have you heard the rumours about the Phantom Thieves? The ones that steal hearts?" she asked. When he nodded, he suddenly jerked upward and looked at everyone, suddenly realizing that he was sitting among the Phantom Thieves themselves. He stammers and tries to form a proper sentence but below them, according to Morgana peeping through the skylight, more guards have just shown up and were frantically looking around for the thieves. He skitters towards the others and hops up and down, exclaiming it was time to leave before they start sending people up.
"When did my clothes change?" Yusuke says suddenly, noticing his get up.
"You JUST noticed?" Naminé asked, then points to herself, "I literally changed the same time you did!". Yusuke turns to her and then jumps in surprise, confessing he actually hadn't notice. Naminé took a deep breath and withheld a sassy response, the poor boy had quite a day with all these revelations. Last thing he deserved was her questioning if he was dense or oblivious. But before she actually responded, Ren ordered everyone to flee back to the exit. "We'll regroup at Wildkat, come on!" he says as they fled.
*Wildkat*
"So there are other Phantom Thieves…" Yusuke muses quietly as the gang walked through the city whilst the world turns into night, listening to the small brief Ren had given him about their group and then some. While Ryuji carried Naminé on his back, who was close to collapsing the moment they escaped from the Metaverse. Similar to her friends, Naminé was suffering from the first time release of a Persona, except unlike Sora and his long time friends, she almost fainted entirely.
Only because she had Ann give her a potion (guised as a soda) is she able to stay awake long enough to explain to Yusuke what they can do to take down Madarame.
"That right. Sadly only a handful of us can wield a Persona," Ren says, "Seven in total while the other four help out wherever else they can. But recent events had halved our group".
"Yeah about that, any word from them?" Ryuji asked, adjusting Naminé. Ann sighed and replied she hadn't heard a peep from the others since they escaped nor seen any missed calls. Keeping the UG a secret alongside the guardians of light's stuff, thankfully Morgana reminded everyone about Mementos, so they made up a story surrounding their missing teammates. They reached Wildkat and Ann texts somebody on the inside, noticing there was nearly no light within the building.
The door opened up and popping her head out was Eri, looking back and forth down the street before landing her eyes on them. "There you guys are…" she greets then frowned when she spots Yusuke, "…and this…guy?".
"Yusuke, Eri. Eri, Yusuke," introduces Ren with a gesture of his hand and then as he enters the café, says: "Also he knows we're Phantom Thieves. Plus He and Naminé awakened their Personas". Eri blinked as Ren walked ahead with Ryuji carrying Naminé, followed by Ann and after a curt bow from Yusuke, he enters. Eri blinks, before shrugging. "Okay so," she says, "We've two more party members".
Inside the café turned HQ of the Phantom Thieves, Ren frowns with worry upon seeing the state of his team. The former players of the Reapers' Game were in less than the ideal shape he hoped they be, strewn across the couches while being tended to by Xion and the others while Riku was leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in hand and looked equally as exhausted, but he looked more concerned and on edge. When he spots the other thieves, he waved at them but frowns when he spots Yusuke entering and more so when he spotted Naminé.
Before Ryuji could say a word next thing he knew a bit of weight flies off his back and then Naminé reappears in Riku's arms. The girl doesn't even stammer or blush at the sudden change, her exhaustion was much, MUCH more severe than the others had seen from anyone else. Ren approached Neku, who was laying against the couch with a bottle of cold water against his neck, to cool off and to ease up some dull aches in his body.
"Welcome back," Ren greets giving him a high five, "Looks like everyone's alive and…relatively well?".
"You've no idea…" Neku grunts, "Two days in Mementos was a lot worse than we thought…". He then looked at Yusuke and asked what he was doing here. Ren pats his shoulder, promising to explain everything to them once they got settled. However upon one quick scan of the room, he notes that there were two members missing from their team of troublemakers. "Where's Sora and Kairi?", he asked. Placing Naminé on the couch, Riku sighed and says: "They're in his room, he's…not doing so well".
"Huh? What happened to Sora?", Ann asked.
"He was stretching himself thin, bailed me and Shiki out of hell back in Mementos, and he collapsed the second we got out of that place," Neku grumbles, "Our ace in the hole's been stuck in bed all day since then". He plants the bottle down, explaining that Xion had to carry him back to Wildkat while he was unconscious and so far, well into the evening, he hasn't so much as budged or twitched. Neku admitted they wanted to bring in Riku's doctor friend but upon Kairi's assessment of his state, she'd be as helpful as a cup of water used on a house fire.
"Great…" Ren sighed, "Just what we needed…especially with what happened within Madarame's Palace". He sits down and together with what able-bodied members of the Phantom Thieves, explained the whole thing to Yusuke while informing the others what they discovered. From how the gang first formed, then to how Morgana taught them how to become the Phantom Thieves and how they managed to change Kamoshida's heart while getting him to confess his sins. Yusuke nodded and was surprisingly receptive to this knowledge, confessing he himself found the whole thing with the former PE teacher to be fabrication of the media.
"But if what you're saying is true…then these Phantom Thieves…" he muses, "I never would have thought such people could exist…".
"Kinda weird how this is somehow still the most normal thing among all the other things we've learned…" Rhyme thinks to herself, thinking of the Reapers' Game and Sora.
"But you've seen both the thieves and the world of the Metaverse, surely that's enough to convince you we're the real deal?" Ren asked.
"Of course, seeing is believing after all," Yusuke assured, "But your plan with Madarame-Sensei…with Madarame, is to force him to have a change of heart, yes?".
"That's the idea," Neku hummed, "Problem was that door with the weird-ass design is what stopped us from hurrying up and finishing this". Naminé, wearily, confesses that was why she and Ann came to collab with him, using it as an excuse to snoop around and get the door open for Ren and Ryuji. "Which…we should apologize for dumping Ann's clothes on your floors…" she meekly says. Yusuke awkwardly scratched his neck, while Neku's group looked at the two with confused and curious eyes. "L-Long story!" Ann says, before snapping to Beat, "Get your mind outta the gutter!".
"BWAHHH! Why you singlin' me out!?".
While they were having their accusatory spat, Yusuke pauses and clasps his hands in deep thought, mulling over the words his new associates have poured into his head. The sensei he knew, the man he called his father, had died a long time ago, or for all he knew was never the man he envisioned to be. His plagiarism was one thing that he believed if it was just his art he could drop and finally move onto his own work but to hear he had done this to so many others, destroyed their lives as both a creator of arts and then their social lives, that was too much. The amount of students he had taken underneath his wing, and likely once Yusuke had served his purpose he would be discarded like trash.
The vain man he saw in the Palace, the true Madarame that he never wanted to believe could exist. How blatant he was in disregarding those lives he ruined, how his greed for wealth and success had corrupted him to such a level of depravity was sickening. And left unchecked, there will be more poor souls taken in by him.
"If you're goal is to change his heart, then…let me join as a member of the Phantom Thieves," he pleads. His request surprised the others, much less for Naminé, however. Yusuke said: "If I had faced the reality of his true self earlier, maybe I could have prevented things from going so far. As his former student, I have to put an end to this for the sake of everyone's futures he robbed". He even weakly, as if pained to say, admits this was the most civil thing he could do for the man he once called his father.
"…can't…say this the most "civil" way to handle it," Shiki squeaks, "But since we're all after him anyways, I guess that's fine with me".
"Ren, Neku?" Ann asked, turning to the two. The leaders glanced at each other, Ren voicing his worries about adding another member to their growing team and though Yusuke had shown he has skills, this Palace was far more challenging than Kamoshida's. Plus this one had a deeper connection to Yusuke, and while he didn't doubt his convictions, he was more worried about coming face to face with the man again.
"I get ya…but look at it this way," Neku argued, "We need more able bodies for this Palace, and with the Mementos being a pain in the ass for us and without Sora and likely Kairi, we're stretched too thin for a job this big". Ren cupped his chin in thought, realizing that their situation left little room for personal preferences and even less options for them to explore. With two of their strongest out of the picture until an uncertain time, the Reapers' Game possibly popping up again and taking away four more of their teammates, it would ultimately come down to five of them without Yusuke.
"Plus that place is gonna be filled with artsy stuff, Yusuke could help out there and from what I heard, he's fast too," lists Neku, "And we were planning to expand anyways with more help". Ren sighed, concurring with his orange haired friend before looking at him. "What about Sora? Would he go with this too?".
"Mr "I can make friends with everyone" would probably go along with it," Neku huffed, "Swear he could make a Kamoshida at this point".
"What about me?" Naminé asked, "I have a Persona now, so can't I tag along?". Before Riku could voice a firm "no", Yusuke pleaded that she'd be allowed to join. Ryuji agreed with a wide grin. "Yeah totally! Did see how she kicks? Riku didn't say she knew martial arts!". Riku paused and blinked, and he along with the other guardians looked at Naminé with confusion, who turned pink at the sudden attention. Xion poked her thighs curiously, and commented she had no muscles there. The blonde turned darker and stressed she HAS muscle, though Xion teased fat doesn't count.
Naminé darkly asked if she wanted an example of her foot in her rib cage.
"Yo Riku, ain't you goin' too? So you could jus' watchout for her, ya know?" Beat asked with a shrug, "Sides she'd stick with ya like gum on your shoe".
"Why did you use such a gross analogy?" Ann sighed.
"Riku?" Neku asked.
The silvery haired teenager looked at Naminé's pleading looks, conflicted and even stubbornly trying to come up with an argument to this. But as Neku had pointed out, there was so many reasons as to why they needed Yusuke, so Naminé being an added bonus to their struggles was also impossible to argue. Plus, if Sora was willing to trust Kairi in joining the group and putting her life on the line, then he had no reason to deny Naminé a chance to prove herself. His argument, however weak it may seem, was in comparison to pretty much the entire guardians of light was she had nearly no experience on the battlefield.
Then again neither did Ren or the others, yet here they are.
"…so long as stick by us and DON'T wander off on your own…" he says.
"I'll stay by someone's side at all times," promises Naminé.
"…then…I guess we have no reason to reject you…or Yusuke's help".
"But just remember everyone," Morgana pipes up, resting on Ren's lap, "Madarame may have a mental shut down if we screw up. Now okay granted we have ways to prevent it, but there's no guarantee they'll work".
"Yes. And unlike our former PE teacher, he's well into his winter years," Rhyme mentions, "Which means if something goes wrong…".
"We'll play it by ear," Ren promises, "If we carry out the heist as well as we did with Kamoshida, then that should at least spare him from having a mental breakdown". Yusuke sighed in agreement with their leader, reminding everyone Madarame has the art world under his thumb and his connections with dozens of organizations are staggeringly high. Voicing his deeds will do nothing but snub them out, meaning this is their only way to bring him to justice. "Guess we're all in agreement then," Ren says.
"Hold on, what about the real Madarame?" Rhyme asked, "If I recall correct, you said he was going to call the police on you three". Yusuke assured them that before he came here with the others, he had contacted his master and convinced him not only was he pursuing Ann to stop her, but even managed to "convince" Naminé to keep her mouth shut about his crimes. "And like you said about his shadow and him being to separate entities, he has no recollection of what happened within the Palace," he revealed, "He was also complaining to the security company about how they were unable to catch one schoolgirl".
"Oh good, at least that's off our backs," Ann says.
"I'm afraid not…" Yusuke said with a shake of his head, "He's still furious by all this, and says he is going to take legal action against Takamaki-San…".
The others glanced at each other, suddenly the weight of this ordeal had just gotten heavier. Granted it was only Ann, but if Yusuke was right, as well as the others, chances are Madarame would charge the others who were involved with this. Naminé may be a prime target especially. "Then we need to change his heart fast, I doubt any of us have the means to fight against both him and whatever organizations he has in his pocket," Riku hummed and turns to Yusuke, "Did he say when?".
"No, but if I know him he won't act until after the exhibition. Any scandal during the show would be his loss," Yusuke assured.
"Which means we just need to change his heart to avoid this legal action," Morgana proclaims. The gang nod in agreement while Rhyme tries to find out the date of when this unfortunate event may come knocking. Then Yusuke looked at Morgana and asked what he was. Confused, Riku obviously points out he is a cat, which further confuses Yusuke. Especially when he pointed out that a cat, was talking to everyone like a human. Morgana even challenged him if he had an issue with that, to which Xion argued everyone does.
"No, not really," Yusuke says with a shrug, "Just found it surprising is all".
"…yo, dude's takin' this way too well…" Beat groaned. Ann summed up that Yusuke just works on a different wavelength compared to the others…though probably on Xion's wavelength.
*Later*
*Leblanc*
Resting on his bed after bidding Sojiro a good night, Ren lies down on his bed and sighed with Morgana. Once Yusuke left, they discussed what happened with the Reapers' Game as well as Sora's condition.
And to say it was bad is an understatement.
After Kairi looked at him and after they briefed her on what happened, she revealed Sora was in a sense in a coma. According to her based on what Aqua had taught her, he basically drained himself of his energy to such a concerning level that anyone else probably wouldn't have survived whatever he did. Neku offered that because he was restricted in the UG as they are in the Metaverse, he might have overdone it with the Psych and his Flowmotion abilities. He has yet to reawaken, and Kairi has been monitoring him since they brough him home.
Meaning like they all feared, Sora would be out of the PT for now while Kairi would stay by his side. Ren didn't like this in the slightest, especially with the Reapers' Game becoming more and more of a thorn in their sides with this new Reaper hunting them. According to Beat, even Neku struggled against the guy, and Rhyme feared he may be in league with the player who was hunting them in the UG today.
Reapers Game, Sora and Kairi being out of the team and now this legal action…
On his phone, Ren chats with the party.
Skull: "Dude…legal action…".
Nightmare: "And there we were thinking we're done with worries of getting expelled".
Scarlet: "Unlawful entry, defamation and continued "harassment", and no doubt Madarame will come up with all sorts of other crimes".
Tzu: "All the more reason for Joker's team not to botch this one…wish that was all we had to worry about".
Jet: "Yeah, eff it man! We got ANOTHER mission tomorrow!".
Eri: "Seriously? After what happened yesterday and today they're still going at you guys?".
Roxas: "Man…you guys are already stretched thin without Scarlet and King, now you're basically half the Phantom Thieves".
Reaper: "Anybody else wanna add to the list?".
Xion: "We're out of cookies…:(".
Naminé: "This just keeps getting worse and worse…".
Tzu: "I've some good news…according to the website of the exhibit, its meant to end on the fifth of June, which gives us as of tomorrow, sixteen days to take him down".
Nightmare: "Just a day or two extra compared to the last one…better than a week".
Joker: "Okay, my team will meet up at the underpass tomorrow and head into the Palace afterschool, Reaper, you know what to do".
Reaper: "Got ya, good luck tomorrow everyone".
Wishing everyone a good night, Ren and Morgana finally head to bed.
A/N:
…hello.
So its been, what, nearly two months since I posted and been radio silent? Yeah sounds about right.
I am sorry for the delay and little update, but I sort've just lost the passion for the story and after posting, just felt a little depressed and stopped working on the story for…well, two months now. But hey, I'm back and ready to get back into the swing of things. But I'm not saying things will be back to the norm, cause I am working on other stuff as well so the updates may come to a one every two weeks, maybe.
But we'll worry about that bridge when we come to it.
QUESTIONS:
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: Naminé's fighting style?
Q3: Excited for the new stuff?
Q4: Missed this story?
Q5: Do you want an actual update?
As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!