Disclaimer: All characters and events that take place within the story are fictional. Any relations to real people or events are purely coincidental. All copyrights belong to Atlus.

Art by Zengoro on Pixiv. Thanks so much!

Warning: Deviants explores psychological disorders, thoughts of suicide, attempted suicide, sexual assault, and emotional trauma both from an intrapersonal and interpersonal perspective. If you or anyone you know are suffering from any of the above, please seek professional help.

Monday, April 18

After School

The hazy transition between reality and the MetaVerse was usually accompanied by a sense of vertigo or minor stab of pain in the head. Judging by Ann's wince and placing her hand on the wall to keep herself steady it at least held true for her. Ren barely felt a tingle in his skull. Maybe he was gradually getting used to the shift. Physically, at least. Mentally he wasn't disappointed or surprised at seeing the vast castle looming over them from the small alleyway they stood in.

A flicker of blue flame and the whoosh of combustion momentarily blinded him. Ren felt the odd uniform that donned him whenever they were here against his skin. The red gloves snugly hugged his hands and the long, black tailcoat tickled his calves. An oddly familiar weight on his face across his eyes, not too unlike his glasses, pulled at his nose.

Ren reached up and ran his hand across the almost metallic surface of the domino mask. Ren paused, feeling something strange, and lowered his hand. He brought it to his face again. There it was. He felt the impulse to rip the mask off his face, his fingers twitching in anticipation and scratching at it. Swallowing down the temptation and with conscious effort, Ren lowered his hand.

"Joker, are you feeling okay?" Morg-, no, Mona, tapped at Joker's hip. Mona, while still cat-like, stood at waist height.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Joker rubbed his forearm, the friction warming his skin slightly. "I'm just eager to get this started, is all."

"Oh, I get that feeling!" Skull enthused as he cocked his shotgun with glee. "Can't wait to see if this actually works!"

"I hope it does," Ann looked at the small machine pistol in her hand. "Otherwise this all would have been a big waste of money."

"I still can't believe you blew all the money we had to get yourselves guns but didn't budget it out for me to get one, too! Now I gotta use this lame sling. A sling!" Mona wailed as he waved the object in question back and forth.

"At least we know the sling will work, Mona," Joker tried to appease him once more. They'd tested the sling yesterday. Joker wouldn't want to be hit by that thing.

"Yeah, against cardboard boxes!" Mona retorted. "What's this thing going to do against plate mail?!"

"Uh… just aim for the gap in the visor?" It ended in a question as Joker began to wonder how hard that would be in the heat of battle.

Mona scoffed and began pulling at the sling.

Joker took the handgun out of his bag and frowned. Where the heck was he going to put this thing? It wasn't something that he thought of the day before. Usually it went on the hip, right? "About here?" Joker wondered aloud.

A lick of blue flame and whoosh flared from his hip. In its place was a sleek black holster.

"What the hell?" Joker slid the handgun into place. It was a perfect fit.

"It's an image of our rebellion, right?" Ann examined herself, moving the machine pistol around trying to find where it would be comfortable. "So… Do our clothes adapt to what we need? Like, we have guns now so our perception of what we should look like changes?"

"An astute conclusion, Lady Ann. And one that I would agree with. Pretty nifty, huh?" Mona beamed at them.

From the corner of his eye Joker caught Skull actively averting his eyes as Ann twisted and turned, the skin-tight red outfit clinging to her curves. Joker unconsciously cleared his throat and looked away as well. He could feel his ears getting hot.

"There we go!"

An ignition and flash of blue later and Joker assumed Ann had found the ideal spot.

"So uh… what do we call you?" Skull asked as he glanced at Ann.

"What? Oh, you mean how you are calling each other different things? I was wondering about that." Ann canted a hip. Goddamnit did she not know how sexy she was? It's like she wasn't even trying!

"Well… we uh… don't wanna go around shoutin' our real names. Thought it'd be a good idea to um… come up with code names," Skull stammered.

"I'm Mona, that's Skull, and this is Joker," Mona pointed at each of them in turn. "Makes us sound like real thieves, doesn't it?"

"I guess that makes sense. It would be strange to be the only one called by my actual name." Ann paused and looked at Skull. "You named yourself after your mask? Really? How unoriginal."

"That's what I said!" Joker held his arms out wide.

"Yeah, Joker fits," Ann ignored him for the most part, lost in thought. "Well… I have this tail… Something like a cat?"

Joker swallowed the words that were threatened to come out of his mouth. They'd be the last words he'd ever say, that's for sure.

Ann snapped her fingers. "Panther. Sounds a bit more fierce compared to other cats, right?"

"Alright, Lady Ann's 'Panther,' then!" Mona nodded, pleased. "Now that that's settled, how about we get started. We've wasted enough time as is. There's a lot of ground to cover, so the sooner we get going, the better."

Joker ran his hand across the mask and took a deep breath. Showtime.

Moving with his knees slightly bent and walking on the balls of his feet, Joker padded forward almost without a sound on the plush red carpet. Mona trailed closely behind him while Panther and Skull brought up the rear.

They moved slowly, all of them straining their ears for the slightest sound. The scraping of metal, the squeak of leather, or the sound of footsteps would give them a few precious seconds to recognize that something or someone was around the corner. They hadn't heard or seen any guard upon their entrance. So far so good, but not knowing where the enemy made Joker's heart pounding loudly in his chest.

Joker paused near the corner of the hallway. He felt… a pressure nearby. Like walking through a familiar building without light and feeling the wall pushing against him without touching it. Peeking around the threshold Joker spotted the familiar glint of steel plate and jerked back around the corner.

"What the-"

Footsteps were getting closer.

Glancing over his shoulder Joker saw Mona pulling his saber from god-knows-where while Skull and Panther moved up to them. Skull was hefting his shotgun and sporting an eager grin. Joker reached down feeling the textured grip of his handgun and pulled it free. Was this really going to work? He was holding a toy gun, for heaven's sake. He could feel some metal rattling inside it somewhere.

Skull didn't seem to have any reservations as he moved past them and rounded the corner, presenting the shotgun down the hallway from the hip. "Sup bitches!" He squeezed the trigger.

Joker involuntarily jumped as the sudden silence that he'd been straining to hear in was broken by a clap of thunder. It wasn't as loud as the cannon volley he'd received, but inside these walls the sound bounced back and forth. Skull himself seemed just as surprised, jerking wildly from the unbraced recoil and taking a few unsteady steps back.

Holy shit. It did work.

Joker felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he stepped into the hallway, pistol up and ready.

The guard's platemail was in tatters. Large holes and a dozen small ones had punched through the steel armor. From within, dozens of shadowy tendrils whisked back and forth.

The guard groaned and doubled over on itself, it's body twitching unnaturally as if bones were being broken and shattered. It suddenly burst out in that shadowy mist, leaving nothing behind but a very scared… fairy?

Pure confusion was the only thing that kept Joker from pulling that trigger. He expected the guard to rush him, sound an alarm, anything but turn into this adorable looking fairy.

The fairy was filled with terror as it looked down the barrel of a shotgun it'd been on the receiving end just a moment prior. "H-hang on! Let's not be so hasty here!" it nervously laughed, it's voice strangely distorted.

Joker kept the fairy in his sights and spoke over his shoulder, "Mona, what the hell is this?"

"I-I don't know…" Mona suddenly frowned and rubbed his head. "Wait… no, I do know. I can explain, but this might not be the best place. Hurry, deal with it and we can move on."

The fairy's eyes somehow grew larger. "No, no, no! Wait! Please don't kill me. Oh! I know! How about I help you? I'll be helpful, I promise!"

"Help us how?" Panther asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

The fairy timidly pointed at Joker. "I'll accompany him! He can call me for aid, whenever he needs it!"

"A Shadow offering to help?" Mona wondered aloud, mystified. "It's your call, Joker. But I've never heard of this before."

Joker chewed his lip. It was dangerous letting an enemy tag along with them, but they needed information. "Fine. But try anything funny and it'll be the last thing you do."

The fear disappeared and pure joy lit up the fairy's face. "I promise, I'll be useful!"

It fluttered up to Joker and touched his mask. A flash of blue light blinded him.

"You can call me Pixie!" The voice spoke directly in his head. "I'm going to be your mask and have some fun!"

A flood of sensations rushed through Joker's mind that he barely had time to process. A forest glittering with fireflies, joyful laughter echoing all around him, and the warm, comfortable sense of arriving home. It was gone in a flash.

"Did… did you just absorb it?" Mona stared at him wide-eyed.

"I didn't do anything," Joker frowned as he tried to recall what he'd experienced. Hazy images that lacked detail. Sounds that echoed like a distant memory. Feelings that were fleeting. All of it was blurry.

"Well, other than the guard turnin' into some fairy-thing, at least we know these work," Skull cocked his shotgun with a wild grin.

"Yeah, and that they're loud," Panther was still covering her ears. She shook her head, holding the Skorpion out in front of her. "Cover your ears."

She pulled the trigger. This time it was a small, white plastic pellet that shot out.

Skull scratched his head. "That's weird."

"We know they're toys. The Shadow's don't. They see them as real, so therefore they are real. At least in that moment," Mona's ear twitched. "Come on, we should get moving. Who knows if that gunshot was heard."

"I'll take the lead again," Joker quickly resumed his position as the pointman. He had felt the guard-fairy-thing before he'd seen it. It was like a faint presence pressing against the side of his brain. It was dull, but present nonetheless. A sixth sense, maybe?

Creeping forward through the hall Joker paused at a door. He didn't feel anything. Exhaling quietly he reached out to the handle and turned it slowly, fully focused on opening it without a sound. He felt the handle lock against the door and opened it ever so slightly. Joker patiently pied the room, using the door as a method of hiding himself from unexposed areas. Soon enough, he was in the empty room.

No… Shadows, had Mona called it?

"What's up, Joker?" Mona asked from outside while keeping his eyes down the hall.

Joker walked back into the hall and closed the door behind him. "I'll tell you when we have the chance. I'm just checking some things out. Let's keep moving."

Whenever they passed a door Joker entered each of them, finding all of them empty and not feeling that pressure at any point.

Joker lost track of time as they moved painstakingly slow through the maze-like halls. What made things worse is they hadn't encountered any more Shadows since Pixie. Being on edge this entire time was making him feel silly.

His head whipped to the side as motion caught his eye. The hallway was empty.

"Mona, did you see that?" Joker whispered as he crouched down.

He felt Mona press against his shoulder. They both remained silent and watched the hall for any movement.

A waver. A mirage?

"That's it!" Mona quickly moved up the hall and stopped in front of a door. He smiled and waved them forward.

The door they stopped in front of was like any other door here. Rich, red mahogany elegantly carved. It shifted and became a sliding door. A moment later it transitioned back to the rich wood.

"Woah, the hell? Was that a classroom door?" Skull reached out and pushed the door open.

The interior of the room was reminiscent of a classroom. The familiar black board in the front with the podium and the arrangement of neatly lined up rows of desks.

"Looks like one of the first-year classrooms," Panther commented as they all entered and glanced around. "The eastern side of the school, maybe?"

"This is perfect!" Mona jumped up onto a desk and planted his paws on his hips. "We can use this as a saferoom!"

"Saferoom?" Skull scratched his head. "What, you mean those Shadow thingies won't come in here?"

"Exactly. This space is a part of the school that Kamoshida doesn't have much influence over. His presence is weak here, so Shadows won't enter. We can use this space to take a breather or come up with plans."

"So if we have time, can you explain these 'Shadow' things? You said you'd talk about it when we had a moment," Panther lounged in one of the seats and propped her head up with her hand.

"It's weird… I didn't know but then I remembered. Like, how could I have forgotten?" Mona scratched his head looking a bit concerned before sighing. "Anyways, yeah, that fairy is a Shadow. Shadows are aspects of someone that they themselves don't want other people to see."

"You mean, like, their secrets and stuff?" Skull set his shotgun down and ran a finger along the barrel.

"Or is it literal? Like a side they don't want people to see? Weakness, greed, or anger?" Panther was leaning back now, arms folded.

"Exactly as Panther suspects," Mona, subconsciously or not, folded his arms as well. "The guards aren't transforming into Shadows- they're revealing what they actually are. I don't know why Shadows gather in Palaces. Maybe it's a result of powerful distortions or something else."

"When that Shadow touched my mask I felt… a lot of things." Joker explained what he'd experienced as best he could.

"You saw, heard, and felt something, huh?" Mona murmured. "Like I said before, I'd never heard of that happening before. What you experienced is news to me."

"Can you still feel it?" Panther asked.

"It's hard to tell," Joker admitted. "They all feel like distant memories. I know they're not mine."

"Well, you have plenty of time to think 'bout that stuff later. Shouldn't we get back to crackin' at this castle?" Skull hopped up from his seat.

"Before that," Joker held up a hand. "I was checking those rooms earlier because I think I can sense these Shadows. I don't know how to explain it, but I felt a pressure when we encountered Pixie."

"Pixie? The Shadow had a name?" Mona's eyebrows furrowed and rubbed his chin. "Interesting. But that's good news. Sensing Shadows is definitely a useful skill to have."

"So that means you'll be taking the lead, then?" Panther said more than asked.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to suggest," Joker agreed.

"Great! We'll keep moving like we have then," Mona said as he began moving to the door. "We've been at this for a while, but I still feel like we have quite a ways to go."

Skull rolled his eyes and picked up his shotgun. "Great, more walking."

Joker ducked behind a wooden cabinet and pressed his back against it.

Mona, Skull, and Panther looked like deer caught in headlights as they bolted for their own cover.

Shit. He'd barely picked up that Shadow and had a moment to react before it rounded the corner of the hall.

He could feel it clearly now. His head was being pressed against by the direction of the Shadow like a compass needle being drawn towards the north pole. And it was getting closer. Any second now and it would be right next to him. There was no way it wouldn't see him.

Joker reached down to his thigh and pulled his knife free. It's weight, while he'd used it before, suddenly felt remarkably unfamiliar. Every time he'd used it was out of desperation. Now, he was here waiting to deliberately use it with the intent to destroy. It felt different with the handgun. All it took was a single squeeze of the finger and it would be over. With a knife it wasn't so simple. It roused a complicated series of emotions.

Holding the dagger up to his chest Joker felt the impulse to reach up to his mask. Brushing his fingers across it once more Joker felt that rush of sensations. The forest, the joyous songs, the feeling of calm. Calm.

Joker moved with sudden swiftness. Staying low and rising up from bent knees, dagger flashing as it streaked towards the gap between the guard's helmet and chest plate. Joker felt the impact of metal on metal. That wasn't right.

Without conscious thought Joker sprang away, nearly falling over at the sudden acceleration. Rolling to a stop Joker felt his right arm stinging. A glance later and Joker saw a thin red line running across his skin underneath a tear in his clothes. Not deep, but blood was welling up from the wound nonetheless. Joker was glad his body moved on its own as he became suddenly aware of the vulnerabilities of flesh.

The guard's sword was clean and embedded in the floor where Joker had been moments earlier. It's helmet had been knocked clean off, revealing a black, amorphous haze with two glowing red motes of light where a human's eyes would be. With a burst of that black haze it revealed its Shadow-self.

A horse with two horns curving backwards out of its skull, purple-hide so dark it was almost black was drawn tight across its obvious and well-defined muscles. A white mane and tail plumed out in stark contrast, it's eyes remaining that same burning shade of red.

It stomped its massive hooves on the carpet, Joker feeling the ground shake from where he was as it lowered its head.

"Stay clear it's going to charge!" Joker shouted as he crouched and braced to move. It was an almost fatal error.

Being so caught up in the moment Joker failed to remember they were in a narrow hallway crowded with small furniture. Furniture that obstructed his movement as the horned horse barreled towards him, its head lowered presenting the curved horns to gore him.

Shifting his weight from foot to foot Joker could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the red, hate-filled eyes drew closer with each passing moment. With a sharp intake of breath Joker threw himself to the left. His left shoulder crashed into the wall and his right was caught by one of the horns as the horse lowered its head and reared suddenly. White flashed across Joker's vision as clear pain shocked his system accompanied by a sickening crunch of bone. The force of the blow knocked him clean off his feet and sent his back into the wall. The back of Joker's head whiplashed hard, the impact rattling his brain as he slid down onto the floor. Joker could feel his throat convulsing, his mind screaming and his body wanting to do the same. Joker bit down, hard, gritting his teeth to stay silent.

A shotgun blast registered in his brain along with the painful ringing. A flash of heat. A gust of wind.

Joker reached with his functioning hand into a pocket. He felt his gloved fingers clench around plastic and pulled the bag of medicine free. Cold sweat covered his skin as he struggled to open the bag with his gloved hand. Fucking thing wouldn't open!

Shoving a piece of the bag into his mouth Joker bit and tore, pills spilling across the carpet. Clumsily grabbing three or four Joker popped them into his mouth and swallowed.

The pain went from blinding to an aching, sharp stab. It still hurt like hell but at least he could think. He flexed his right hand. And move. Pushing the pain into a corner of his mind Joker unsteadily rose to his feet.

A shotgun blast had torn into the wall, shredding the wallpaper and wood behind it. A piece of furniture had been burned to a crisp, and remnants of it and ash had been blasted through the hallway. Skull's shotgun was on the ground, its owner swinging his metal pipe into the hard side of the horse. Panther currently had her whip entangled in its horns and was pulling its head to the side. Mona was standing behind Zoro and blasting gusts of wind.

Joker raised his handgun and aimed, shifting from side to side as the horse constantly bucked and turned. Skull was pulled into his sights. Followed by the horse. Then Panther. Joker cursed and holstered his gun, searching the floor for his knife to no avail.

Joker reached up with his left hand and swept across his mask. A flash of deep woods and fresh sap enveloped him succeeded by an overwhelming sense of jitteriness. A name came naturally to his lips. He ripped the mask off his face. "Pixie!"

The small creature flew around him once, winking at him playfully with a cute smile as she stopped in front of him. She clapped her hands, a bolt of lightning shooting from her small frame and striking the horned horse.

The horse blasted off its feet, the ground quaking as it slammed into the floor. Panther was pulled along with it, barely managing to keep her feet as the unexpected movement caught her off guard. Skull barely hesitated, striding after it and slamming his pipe into its braying head.

"Get it!" Joker shouted as he finally spotted his knife and plucked it from the floor midstride.

He was the last into the chaotic fray they found themselves in. All of them jumped onto the horse, slashing, smashing, stabbing into its muscled body that threatened to toss any one of them off at any given moment if they let their guard down. Joker ignored the pain that was stiffening his right arm as he brought his dagger down again, again, and again.

What felt like minutes later the horse finally dissipated into black smoke. All four of them were panting explosively, hearts beating so hard it felt like they would break through their chests.

Joker couldn't even feel his right arm anymore. He glanced down and saw his hand still gripped his dagger. He tried to let go. His fingers weren't responding.

"Hey, Joker," Panther reached up to her own mask. "Stay still for a moment. Carmen."

The seductress batted her eyes and Joker, fanning herself as he felt a comforting warmth flood into him. The pain in his shoulder lessened and subsided entirely. He could feel control coming back to his arm as he flexed it back and forth. No problems.

"I don't know what you just did, but thanks. That worked way better than the medications," Joker continued to experimentally rotate his shoulder.

"No… problem?" Panther swayed on her feet and placed a hand on Skull's shoulder to steady herself. "Sorry, just felt a little dizzy all of a sudden."

"Don't push yourself," Mona warned as he examined each of them carefully. "Fighting in a Palace is exhausting work. We may have to take things slow so you all can get used to this."

Skull looked Joker up and down. "How you feelin'? Ya took a nasty hit there. Scared the shit outta me."

"Fine now," Joker gave an appreciative nod to Panther who returned the gesture.

Mona cocked his head to the side and frowned. "But what was that lightning bolt? I didn't think Arsene could do that."

"I heard Joker say, 'Pixie,'" Panther mused, in the process of coiling her whip.

"Yeah, I summoned that Shadow from earlier. Exactly like I did Arsene."

"You summoned another Persona?!" Mona shouted, eyes nearly popping out of his skull. "What kinda power is that?"

"Dude, does that mean you can summon more?" Skull gave a low whistle. "That's freakin' awesome!"

"Maybe? I don't know, guys," Joker shrugged, relieved that no stab of pain shot up his neck. "I just reached up to my mask and it felt like the most natural thing in the world."

"Oh shit," Skull reached up to his own mask with both hands and rubbed it vigorously. "Nope, nothin's comin' to me."

Panther reached up to her own and shook her head. "Nothing for me, either. Although Pixie did say she'd accompany Joker specifically. Maybe that's the key?"

"Let's leave it for now. Just knowing that we have more options is good enough," Mona looked up and down the hall warily. "We should keep moving. We're lucky it didn't sound an alarm, but that doesn't mean we should stick around."

Panther crouched down and picked something up. "Hey guys, check this out. It dropped this piece of paper."

They crowded around her and examined it. A series of geometrical shapes were scrawled onto it. Room names written into certain boxes.

"Looks like a map," Joker examined it closer. "Although it looks incomplete."

"Think it says where the Treasure is?" Panther continued to scan it.

"Doesn't look like it," Mona pointed to a certain spot. "See that? It's a staircase going to another floor."

"So where're we?" Skull leaned back, tapping his pipe against his shoulder.

"Here, I think," Panther pointed. "Doesn't look like we're too far from that staircase. Here, Joker. You hold onto this since you're leading the way."

"Got it," Joker accepted the parchment and continued to study it. "Left at the end of the hall... followed by a right... Okay, let's go then."

Joker tucked the map away and moved on. With that recent encounter weighing strongly on his mind he strained his senses as he rounded corner after corner. Luckily, they reached the staircase without any issue.

That is, until they saw the condition the staircase was in.

It had collapsed for some unknown reason. Bits of rubble still messily strewn across the floor that, although climbable, didn't address the very clear twenty or so feet of vertical space between them and the undamaged portion of the staircase above them.

"Great," Skull said as he craned his neck upward. "How the hell are we s'posed to get up there?"

They spent a few minutes studying the place in relative silence. No windows, no easily scalable walls, no way they could jump up there.

"I got an idea," Mona muttered. "But I'll need some time to get it ready. Let's head back for now. We can come back here in a couple days when I'm finished."

"What're you thinking?" Joker gratefully looked at Mona, tired of examining the same walls.

Joker could swear he saw Mona smiling from the corner of his mouth. "You'll see."

A/N

Hey everyone! Shortish chapter this week since I really just wanted to get out what I had (relative to previous chapters). Figured it'd be better than taking another week of no post since I found a nice stopping point. This way I can finally get back to weekly updates. Everything's good personally. Just got a lot busier personally after what happened. No worries though!

This chapter was a bit hard to write. I don't find writing or even reading chapters of them exploring Palaces interesting or entertaining but it isn't something I can just gloss over. And writing combat is hard. I was surprised at how long the Bicorn combat actually was after looking it over. It felt like so little happened but it was still over a page and a half long. Maybe it's a lack of me being concise, but I can't say.

Anyways, see you all next week!