Ann: Hiya Persona fans! Takamaki Ann here, and Ren is currently doing things, So I'm giving out the hellos in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter because this one is going to be great as well!
Ryuji: *grumbles* she's doing her perky anime thing again.
Ann: Now, Author-kun wanted to give you all a message. "So this story is going to branch out quite a bit from P5. How? You guys will find out soon, but while a few things will deviate from canon, somethings will remain in it." So that sounds ominous, but it should be fine. So with that said, here is another chapter of….Ryuji-kun? Say it with me.
Ryuji: I don't want to.
Ann: Come on. Please? *puppy eyes*
Ryuji: Alright, alright. Put those puppy dog eyes away. *Sighs*
Ann: So here's to the next chapter of…
Ryuji and Ann: Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate!
Yusuke: *blows kazoo*
Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Two
[Opening Scene – Café LeBlanc (Morning)
Theme of a Café LeBlanc: Tranquility from Persona 3]
"I tried hard, but where did we go wrong?
I hope we could... but I won't start all over again."
Ren's head switched off the alarm on his phone, and his eyes opened.
"Another weird dream," He mumbled against his pillow before he lifted his phone and said, "Time to start the day."
Once he got dressed, he walked downstairs to see Sojiro placing a curry plate on the counter with a coffee cup. "Eat up. You'll need your strength for your first day," Sojiro said as Ren sat down at the bar counter.
"Curry this early?" Ren questioned. "Not that I'm complaining. It smells delicious." Ren sat down and said a quick prayer before he began to eat, and boy, the delicious smell was just a precursor to the exquisite taste of the curry.
"Ok, Sojiro-san," Ren said after swallowing some of the food. "I already thought pretty highly of you for letting me stay here, but this? You can do no wrong in my eyes now."
Sojiro let out a sharp bark of a laugh and shook his head. "You're welcome. Get to school, kid. I'll be here when you get back."
Ren finished off his plate and cup of coffee before he ran off with a quick "Later Sojiro-san!"
Sojiro waved him off before his eyes lit up. "Flip the sign on the front to open for me!" Sojiro shouted back.
Ren shut the door and flipped the sign to "Open" before making his way to the train station.
[Scene Change – Shibuya (Daytime - Rainy)
Theme of Rainy Shibuya: Beneath the Mask -Rain (Instrumental Ver) from Persona 5)]
Ren stepped out of the station and narrowed his eyes at the rain falling over the city. "It makes this place even drearier than it already is," Ren said with a sigh, removing his glasses and wiping the water from them before slipping them back over his eyes.
'I wonder how mom and dad are doing,' Ren thought to himself.
His dad was probably at the bar with his friends, laughing it up while his mom was would be at the school, working with many students in her class.
Despite them betraying him, Ren missed his parents.
Why did they have to do this to him?
As he stood there, waiting for the rain to stop, Ren noticed a female figure step beside him.
The first thing he noticed was the standard black blazer that belonged to Shujin Academy, but the rest, he was sure, was not allowed as a uniform.
The female wore the Shujin blazer over a white varsity-like full-zip hooded sweatshirt, worn long to cover most of her short plaid skirt.
Her sweatshirt has a red stripe between two blue lines at the bottom, an "S" symbol near the front bottom on one side, and a green four-leaf-clover logo on the back of the hood. She wears red tights and brown boots with yellow laces.
He watched as she removed the hood from her head to reveal that the female had bright blue eyes and wavy platinum blonde hair styled in bushy pigtails, with parted side bangs on the right side of her face.
She also had a single yellow hair clip above her left ear and small circular earrings on both ears.
"Wow," Ren said.
She was gorgeous.
The girl turned to him as if she heard him speak and gave a polite smile. "Hello," she said.
"Hi," Ren replied.
"I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?" she asked.
"Ah, yeah. Today's my first day, actually. I'm Amamiya Ren," Ren said as he held out a hand.
"Takamaki to meet you," Ann said as Ren shook her hand.
"The same to you," Ren said. "Man, it is pouring out here, huh?"
"Yeah. I like the rain, though. It's purifying in a way. To me, at least," Ann said. "So today is your first day. Nervous?"
"Yeah…" Ren admitted. "I mean, school-wise, I think I'll be ok, but I was looking forward to joining the volleyball team until I met that guy. Kamoshida, I think his name is."
"Oh…" Ann said with a distracted tone.
"You know him?" Ren asked.
"Yeah, he's my friend's teacher," Ann said with a slight frown on her face.
At the mention of her friend, a familiar image of himself and a blond male standing behind a kneeling blonde female, now known as Ann, who cried in front of Shiho's unconscious body, appeared in his head.
"Your friend wouldn't happen to be Suzui Shiho, would she?" Ren asked.
"W-What? How did you guess that?" Ann asked in surprise.
"Well, we met yesterday. Kamoshida was looking for her, and she became super scared of him," Ren noted.
He watched worry appear on Ann's face. "Scared? She's one of the bravest people I know," Ann said. "Why was she scared?"
"I don't know, but that guy caused it. She looked like she was facing the gallows," Ren noted. "The guy himself looked like a straight-up scumbag."
Ann was quiet for a moment before she said, "Yeah…"
Just then, a gray car pulled up, and the window rolled down to see Shujin's Volleyball teacher.
'Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear,' Ren noted with a tiny smirk.
"Hey, Takamaki-chan. You need a ride?" Kamoshida asked with what Ren assumed to be a friendly smile, but it came off lecherous as hell.
Ren noticed a defeated expression appear on Ann's face, and once again, he became on guard.
What was it about this guy that had Shiho and Ann react this way?
And why did this put him on edge like this?
Unable to stop his mouth, Ren said, "Aww, that sucks. I thought you were going to show me the way to the school?"
Ann blinked in surprise before she flashed him a thankful smile. "No thanks, Kamoshida-san. I promised Amamiya-san that I would show him the way. Since it's his first day after all."
"Sure," Kamoshida said before he said, "I'll catch you later then, Takamaki-san!"
But as he rolled up the windows, Ren caught the look of anger that appeared when the man glanced at him.
'Welp…That's not good,' Ren thought to himself.
The car drove off, leaving Ann and Ren alone once again.
"What made you do that?" Ann said. "Not that I'm not thankful about it."
"You looked so defeated. I thought I'd give you an easy out," Ren said before he glanced at his phone. "That App…It's there again…"
"Hm? App?" Ann asked.
"Yeah," Ren said as he held up his phone. "Every time I deleted it, it appears again. I even factory restored it last night."
"That is freaky," Ann said. "But look at the time, we better head to school."
"Yo Takamaki!" A voice shouted from behind them.
Ann and Ren turned around to see a spiky blond-haired teen running towards them.
He was wearing the standard Shujin blazer, and red plaid pants with the bottoms rolled up to reveal his ankles; his blazer was unbuttoned, revealing a yellow t-shirt with a comic style star symbol and the word 'ZOMG!' on it.
The straps of his suspenders hung loosely at his sides of his pants, and he had a white belt and sneakers with the rising sun motif on them.
"Oh, Sakomato-san," Ann said with a polite smile. "What's up?"
"Was that Kamoshida's car that just left?" Ryuji asked.
"Yeah…" Ann replied.
"Let me guess; he was going to pick you up?" Ryuji asked with a frown on his face. When Ann didn't respond, he growled and looked at where the car went and said, "Damn pervy teacher…"
"Pervy teacher?" Ren repeated. "Am I missing something here?"
"Just rumors," Ann said, her tone dismissive, but Ren's guard did not relax.
He didn't want to read too into it but was Ryuji accusing Kamoshida of being a…No, that couldn't be.
Shiho's panicked expression appeared in Ren's mind.
"Tell me about this Kamoshida," Ren said.
"Sure, but um…" Ryuji replied before he looked at Ren and asked, "You don't know about the rumors about him?"
"No, he's new," Ann said.
"Ah, well, hey new kid," Ryuji said with a smile as he held up a balled fist. "Sakamoto Ryuji is my name."
Ren stared before he bumped fists with Ryuji and replied, "Amamiya Ren. Nice to meet you."
"Ditto. Well, in short, he's treats everyone like shit. Well, every guy I know at least," Ryuji said. "He acts like he's the king of the castle at that place."
"Not to mention those rumors about him…" Ryuji then looked to Ann and said, "With you at the forefront of them."
Ann sneered and looked away as she replied, "They are nothing but rumors. There is no way in hell that they could be true."
"I never said they were true, but you are a part of them," Ryuji stated.
"Guys…I think we should get to school," Ren said. "We can discuss more while we walk."
'But if they are true, it explains a few things,' Ren thought to himself with a frown.
"Yeah…" Ann said before she started to walk, with Ren and Ryuji following close behind, but if he had been paying attention, he would have noticed his phone acting very weird.
"Hey, Short stuff."
Ren's eyes widened as a familiar voice spoke inside of his head.
[Scene Change – Rooftop (Day)
Theme of Rooftop: Memories of the School from Persona 3]
The image of a sixteen-year-old auburn-haired girl wearing a red scarf, a light orange sweater, a red plaid skirt, black leggings, red boots, and red headphones that hung down from beneath her scarf stood at the edge of a roof.
"I'm sorry that I sound so tired today…But it's getting harder to stay awake, so listen up, okay? I won't be around for your ninth birthday this year, and I'm sorry. I'm a lousy Aunt, I know, but trust me when I say it's for a good reason. Everyone was in danger, and I couldn't take that lying down, so I did something pretty reckless to keep everyone safe. No regrets about it but boy, I am exhausted."
"I want you to take care of Nee-chan for me. She'll be sad when I'm gone, and she'll need you to brighten up her day. I want you to tell her that she was the best big sister I ever had, and I know mom and dad would be proud of her for raising me as she did."
The girl turned around, and while the top half of her face was hidden by a bright light, the bottom half revealed that she had a smile on her face. "Tell her that I have no regrets doing what I did. I protected everyone. You might not get it now, Ren, but one day, you will meet people that you will want to protect with everything that you have, and when you do, you'll get why I did what I did."
Tears fell down the girl's cheeks as the world started to become brighter. "So no matter what happens in the future, no matter how bad it gets, stand tall and don't give up! And when you ever find yourself lost and not knowing where to go, never forget that I will always be there by your side."
[Scene Change – The Velvet Room
Theme of the Velvet Room– Velvet Room from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]
Ren's eyes snapped open, and found himself in a jail cell, which seemed to be bathed in a dark-blue light.
He held his head and thought, 'Why did I dream of her just now?'
Ren twisted his body to sit in his bed, only to hear the sounds of rattling chains accompany his movement. He glanced down at his wrists and saw that they were bound up chains.
He glanced down at his wrists and saw that they were bound up chains.
But while he should have been panicking, he felt calm at this.
It was then he said, "The Velvet Room."
He blinked.
Why did he say that?
What was going on with him?
"About time you woke up, inmate!" A young female's voice shouted, which was followed by something banging against the bars of his cell, startling him.
"Can you not do that?!" Ren exclaimed in alarm.
It was then he got a good look at the offender hitting his cell.
The girl looked young, and she had platinum blonde hair and yellow eyes, but there was another girl that looked exactly like her standing on the opposite side of her, both of them staring at the cell.
The twins both were wearing a black eye patch with the letter "V" over one of their eyes and a blue prison guard outfit.
The one on the right had a long braid and a hat with the letters "O-Y-O-O," while the one on the left had hair buns and a hat with the letters "X-M-R-N." They also wore a brassard on their left arms, with matching black ties.
The girl on the left had a calm expression and a clipboard, while the one on the right had an angered look and a baton, which had electricity flowing around it.
"You watch your mouth, inmate!" The girl on the right said with a sneer. "You do not yell in the presence of our master."
"Then how about not hitting the bars so loud then," Ren said with a frown. "Wait a minute. Who are you?!"
"You have a lot of questions for a criminal," The right guard said.
"Caroline, please. Calm down," A low, deep voice said.
The right guard, Caroline, visibly relaxed and nodded.
Ren stood up from his bed and walked to the bars, and found himself peeking into a large room.
The room was dark-blue in color, and dozens of jail cells lined the room's walls, but in the center of the room, a single desk and a figure were sitting behind it.
The figure was an older man with a long nose, pointed ears, bulging, bloodshot eyes, and a black suit with white gloves.
"Hello, Inmate. I am Igor, and this is my Velvet Room, and you have somehow entered here without me summoning you yet. How interesting," Igor said.
"I didn't ask to be here, long nose," Ren stated.
"You dare talk to our master like that?" Caroline exclaimed, visibly angered. "Do you hear this, Justine?!"
"I hear it," the twin, Justine, stated, but there was a look in her eye that Ren couldn't quite place.
Igor chuckled and connected his hands, and said, "It is quite alright, Justine. I like this one's humor. It is good to have levity, inmate. It will go well with your rehabilitation."
"Rehabilitation?" Ren repeated. "What are you talking about?"
"You shall see soon. For now, you ought to awaken. You and your friends are being held captured by a lustful king. I await what you discover in his castle, Trickster…" Igor said before he chuckled.
[Scene Change – Palace Dungeon
Theme of the Palace Dungeon – Another World from Persona 5]
"Ren! Wake up!"
Ren's eyes snapped open, and Ann's bright, worried blue eyes were staring into his. "Thank goodness," Ann sighed out, relief heavy in her voice. "I was worried you would never wake up from that blow."
"Yeah, man," Ryuji said as he looked back from the cell bars. "They got you pretty hard…I've been trying to get these guys to let us go, but no dice…"
Ren leaned up as he rubbed his head and muttered, "W-What happened? I remember seeing a castle, then some knights talking about Kamoshida, and then nothing…" Ren said as he looked at the pair.
"That's what we have too," Ann admitted. "But this is supposed to be our school, you know? Not this…whatever the hell it is."
"Damn it!" Ryuji shouted as he kicked the bars. "Let us out of here!"
Ren winced, his head pounding. "I know we are in a serious jam, but…Please keep it down," Ren said with a dazed tone in his voice.
"Sorry, man," Ryuji apologized as he walked back to Ann and Ren and sat on the floor in front of Ren's bed. "But damn it, what the fuck is going on?"
"Whatever it is, Kamoshida seems to be behind it," Ann said with concern.
"Why the concerned tone?" Ren asked her.
"I'm just worried about what's going to happen to us, that's all," Ann hesitantly answered.
Just then, the doors opened, and several knights poured into the room and stood to the side.
And then a familiar voice said, "When I heard intruders were here, I never expected you, Sakamoto. And with my queen at that!"
[Theme of Confrontation: Blood of Villain from Persona 5]
And walking into the cell was Kamoshida, wearing a gold crown, red heart printed cape, and pink underwear, leaving his torso and hairy legs exposed, but it was his eyes that Ren noticed.
His irises were this eerily yellow, and they seemed to glow.
"I'm not your queen Kamoshida!" Ann exclaimed.
"You are very much mine. You belong to me. And no one else," Kamoshida said as he took a step towards Ann, but Ryuji stepped between her.
"You get the hell away from her, you creep," Ryuji said with a scowl.
However, Kamoshida smirked and punched the teen hard in the face, causing both Ann and Ren to gasp in shock. Ryuji fell to the ground.
"You seem to forget your PLACE!" Kamoshida lifted his leg and stomped on Ryuji's leg, which caused Ryuji to scream in agony.
"Ryuji!" Ann and Ren shouted, but Ren leaped out of bed and attempted to push Kamoshida away, but two of his knights instantly slammed their shields into him, sending Ren to the ground hard.
"Kamoshida, please leave them alone!" Ann tearfully shouted as Ren was picked up by a knight and slammed into the wall back first, knocking the air out of him while Kamoshida continued to apply pressure to Ryuji's leg, despite the teen clawing and punching at the leg.
"These vermin should have never shown their faces around you," Kamoshida hissed out as he looked to Ann, only to look down to Ryuji and raised his foot to stomp down on Ryuji's leg again, causing another agonizing scream to rip through the teen's lungs.
"Please," Ann said, tears pooling in her eyes. "Let them go, and I'll…I'll…"
"Don't you fucking say it!" Ryuji shouted, despite the pain. "Don't give this pervy ass bitch the satisfaction!"
"Don't you know how to stay QUIET?!" Kamoshida exclaimed as he kicked Ryuji In the face hard enough to draw blood from the right side of it.
"Get off of him!" Ann said before she rushed up and tried to push Kamoshida away, but he instantly scowled and backhanded the teenager, sending her to the ground hard.
"Guards! Please take my beautiful queen out of here and into my chambers. I will deal with these two animals," Kamoshida ordered before he lifted Ryuji in the air by his hair and said, "Starting with Sakamoto…"
The knights nodded and grabbed Ann by her arms and lifted her off the ground, which immediately began to struggle. "Ryuji! Ren! Help me!" Ann wailed as she fought to get out of the knights' grasp.
Despite the pain in his ribs and back, Ren narrowed his eyes in anger as he watched as Ann screamed for the knights to let her go while Kamoshida ground his foot into Ryuji's leg.
"STOP IT!" Ren shouted, fury flowing in his veins.
The knights, as well as Kamoshida, stopped their actions and looked to Ren. Kamoshida smirked, stepped away from Ryuji and walked to the bound Ren, and gave a smirk. "Or what?" Kamoshida asked.
"Leave them alone or else…," Ren hissed out.
Kamoshida laughed and said, "You'll be doing nothing at all," before he reached up and smacked Ren in the face and then immediately backhanded him with the same hand, causing Ren to growl.
"Aww, how cute. You think you're fearsome," Kamoshida mockingly said before he punched Ren in the stomach hard, causing Ren to gasp out in agony with blood leaving his mouth, the pain so severe, it caused him to pass out.
[Scene Change – Unknown (?)
Theme of Unknown: The Voice of Someone Calls from Persona 3]
Ren sat there in the dark, his head bowed and blood dripping down the corner of his mouth.
"Are you giving up again?" A voice asked him.
Ren looked up to see himself, but in an outfit, he had never seen himself in before.
The outfit his doppelganger wore consisted of a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black jogger-style pants, brown-black winklepickers, and a pair of red gloves.
And his eyes, they were similar to those twins he had seen, and there was blood covering the upper half of his face, sliding down his cheeks.
"Again?" Ren asked.
"You've been in this situation before…Do you remember?" the doppelganger asked.
"I…" Ren whispered.
The doppelganger smirked and knelt in front of Ren and tilted the teen's head up to face him. Ren looked up at the glowing yellow eyes and saw something within them.
There was this confidence that Ren had never seen before.
Or had he?
As he stared into these eyes, he took a sharp breath as a flicker of blue flames crossed the eyes of his other-self.
"It's not your time Ren. We still have business with the traitor," the doppelganger said. "Your friends are in danger, and you are letting them down again."
"Again?" Ren asked. "I…I never met these people before…" Ren said.
"Then why stick your neck out for them?" The doppelganger questioned.
"T-They are good people…I don't know how I know, but they are," Ren said.
"And yet you are letting them down," he responded. "You have the power to stop this threat and to save your friends, and yet you are surrendering again!"
"I'm not surrendering!" Ren shouted.
"Then are you simply going to watch? Are? Death awaits Ryuji, and a darker fate awaits Ann if Kamoshida takes her away," His doppelganger told him. "You always touted yourself as someone that always helps those in need like she always did. And yet you do nothing when there are people in danger!"
Ren's eyes widened in surprise.
"You talked a big game, acting like you're the protector of the defenseless, but because it backfired on you, you're afraid and willing to hide behind the mask of meek indifference," His double continued as a dagger appeared in his hand with a flourish of cobalt-blue fire.
The doppelganger pointed the dagger at Ren and shouted, "Tell me, Amamiya Ren! Are you truly who you say you are, or were your previous decisions to help those in need a mistake all along?" The double questioned.
The image of the woman being harassed by the bald man appeared in his mind, but his mind opened up further, and dozens of scenes began to force themselves into his mind. Ren tried to sort through all of the images he saw but could not due to how fast they were playing it in his mind.
But there was one image that he was able to catch and that the last image was of a gun pointed against his forehead and the smirk of a traitor.
Something in the last image caused something to snap in Ren's mind. He did not know the context of that image, but it filled him with a rage he had never felt before.
"I think I finally understand," Ren murmured as he sat there with a grin before he looked up at his double and said, "You're right. I was afraid. Because I defended that woman, she framed me, and in turn, I lost my parents, I lost the girl that I loved, and I lost the respect of everyone at Gorin that I fought so hard to gain…."
The clone narrowed his eyes curiously.
"My shield may be dented from the damage it took, but that doesn't mean I should keep my head down and ignore people in need," Ren continued as he stood up on his feet. "She gave me the inspiration I needed to be who I am, and I will not hide behind a mask of indifference!"
"That's it…" The doppelganger said as blue flames began to wrap around them.
"No matter how bad it gets and no matter how lost I become, I am still me in the end, and I will protect anyone that needs my help!" Ren shouted.
"Perfect! That's all I've been waiting for!" His double exclaimed with a devilish grin.
[Scene Change – Palace Dungeon
Theme of Awakening: Awakening from Persona 5]
Ren's eyes opened, revealing bright yellow irises before a pulse of shockwave flew from him, knocking the knights away and Kamoshida from his body and to the ground.
"What the?" Kamoshida hissed out.
"What in the hell?" Ryuji muttered as he sat on the ground, holding his leg.
"What…" Ann whispered, her hair blowing back from the intense wind that took up.
"I have heeded your resolve once again. Let us renew your pact!" An otherworldly voice exclaimed."Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I...Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice!"The voice echoed within Ren's head as blue flames encircled his body.
"Call upon my name once more and release thy rage!" Ren felt a white and black domino mask appeared on his face.
"Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!" and without hesitation, he ripped it off with one hand.
"AND REMEMBER THINE PAST AND AWAKEN TO ME, MY TRICKSTER!" Ren let out a shout as the blue flames flowed from his body and exploded, revealing himself in the same clothes his doppelganger wore.
Behind him was an ethereal figure in a red suit and black body with two elongated horns coming out from its hat/head with two large black wings coming from its lower back with a fiery orange-red grin on its face, accompanied by two large orange-red fiery eyes.
"What the hell?!" Ryuji and Ann exclaimed in shock.
"I am the Pillager of Twilight, Arsène!" The creature bellowed as Ren stood there, a giant smirk on his face. "I am the rebel soul that has been reawakened from his heart…And if he continues to desire it, I shall grant you the power to break through this crisis."
Ren's eyes snapped forward to look Kamoshida in the eyes and smirked.
Kamoshida took a step back and said, "Release the girl and stop him!" The knights dropped Ann before they all rushed into the cell towards Ren, but a harsh blow of Arsène's wings forced them to fly backward into Kamoshida, sending them all to the ground.
Ren took a step forward and chuckled darkly, a dagger appearing in his hand, made from blue flame.
"I warned you to leave them alone, Kamoshida…And now…" Ren dashed towards the group as he shouted, "You'll pay for your mistake!"
Ann: Whoa…That was an intense way to the end of the chapter. Until next time guys!
Ryuji: Peace!