Captain Blues: Ahoy! Captain Blues has arrived and this is my first chapter for this fic. I am excited to bring my P5R expertise to this fic. Now, due to this being Rain's baby, I promised that I would stay on script for this bad boy so I hope you guys enjoy the show. Time to set sail!
Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Thirty - One
[Opening Scene: Shibuya - Shujin Academy (Daytime)
Theme of Shujin Academy: Want to be Close from Persona 3]
"Yo, dude! How you feeling?!"
Ren turned around to see Ryuji. Ren felt much better after a night of rest, but he was still a little uneasy, but as long as he had his friends and his new sister in Ann, things would be okay. He could face seeing her again.
"I'm living the dream Ryuji," Ren said as he gave Ryuji a high five.
"Yeah…" Ryuji said. "Look, bro; we met Sumire…."
Ren was startled by this.
"I'm sorry?" Ren asked.
"Yeah. Sumire bumped into me, asking if I knew you. Said I did. Shiho and I spoke to her yesterday. Told us everything," Ryuji said with a sympathetic smile. "It sucks that she did that to you, but she seems sorry about it."
"Hm…" Ren hummed faintly.
"But that is your business. Ren-Ren. No way in hell I'm going to wade into that mess," Ryuji said with a smile. "But when you're ready to do that, and you need help, I got your back."
Ren looked to Ryuji and gave a grateful smile then replied with "Thanks Ryuji…."
Ren and Ryuji continued to walk down the hallway, but a student holding a book in front of their face began to walk behind them when the pair turned a corner. Ren happened to see the student trailing them but thought nothing of it.
But when they walked up the second floor and began to walk to Ryuji's classroom, Ren saw that the student was still trailing them. Ren nudged Ryuji and motioned him to look back.
Ryuji looked back and saw the student as well and gave Ren a look of confusion. "Let's go upstairs instead…" Ryuji nodded, and the pair went up to the third floor of the school, and Ren could see the student still trailing them.
"Turn right here," Ren whispered. Ryuji nodded, and the duo took the next right turn and walked down the hall until they saw the opening to the boy's bathroom.
The two swiftly went into the bathroom.
Through the body of students, they saw the student with the book in front of their face. "Dude…" Ryuji whispered. "They followed…"
The student removed the book, and the frustrated look Makoto appeared. She huffed and quickly walked back into the main hallway and walked off. "Was that Nijiima-Sempai?" Ryuji asked.
"It was…But why?" Ren asked.
"U-Um…Guys…" A voice said from behind them.
Ren and Ryuji jumped and turned around with their fists cocked only to see the terrified Mishima looking back at them. "Oh, man, it's just you, my little moe," Ryuji said as Ren breathed out a sigh of relief. "You gotta not scare us like that."
"S-Sorry…But this must be fate b-because I wanted to speak to you guys," Mishima said.
"You did?" Ren asked.
Mishima nodded as a blush streaked across his face. "B-But not here. Is there somewhere private we can talk?"
Ren and Ryuji glanced at one another.
"I'll get Haru. You go get Ann and Shiho," Ren said to Ryuji.
[Scene Change: Shibuya – Shujin Rooftop (Afternoon)
Theme of Hanging Out: Afternoon Break from Persona 3]
"Man, we are on this rooftop more than we are in class," Ann said with amusement.
"Yeah, it's crazy," Haru added on.
"Alright, Mishima-kun. What is it that you wished to show us?" Shiho asked her friend kindly.
Mishima nodded and pulled out his laptop from his backpack and flipped open the top and after logging into the Phan-site, he held it open and said, "I was getting rid of the s-standard, "This guy stole my lunch" type emails when I came across this one."
Mishima pointed at the specific one and said, "This woman said that her ex-boyfriend, Nakanohara Natsuhiko, has been stalking her, and she wishes for him to stop. I-I figured this one would be serious, so I wanted to run it by you guys to see if you'll accept."
"Writing it down," Ryuji said as he pulled out a piece of paper and began to write.
"Stalking…" Shiho murmured with a frown on her face.
Anna and Haru had one as well.
"I think you can tell her we'll accept," Ren and Ryuji said in unison.
"P-Perfect. I-I will let her know right away…" Mishima said with an unsure smile. "D-Did I do good?"
Ren smiled and ruffled Mishima's hair and replied, "You were fantastic, Mishima. We'll take the rest from here."
Mishima nodded and, with a red face, rushed off the roof.
"You're so affectionate with him," Haru noted as she looked to Ren.
"I know, but after the abuse he's been through, I want to make sure he gets a lot of positive encouragement," Ren replied before he crossed his arms and added, "We should be a little friendlier to him. He may not ever be a Phantom Thief like the rest of us, but he is one of our own."
The group nodded.
"But now we have a name, but I wonder how we'll be able to locate his palace," Haru said.
"Leave that part to me," Morgana's voice said from behind the group, which caused them to turn around and face him.
"Where have you been?" Ren asked.
"Investigating Mementos," Morgana replied.
"Mementos?" Ryuji asked. "Dude, I think it's called Mentos, and why are you investigating candy."
"Not the candy, you doofus," Morgana said with a swipe of his paw. "Me-men-tos, and today, we're going there."
[Scene Change: Shibuya – Okumura Residence ( Flashback - Afternoon)
Theme of Hollow Victory: So Happy World from Persona 5: The Royal]
The sound of the door caused both Haru and Hifumi to separate from their passionate kiss. "It can't be. Father was not supposed to be back so soon," Haru muttered.
"What should we do?" Hifumi asked.
Haru took her hand and led out away from the living room and into her bedroom while Haru said, "I have an exit balcony that leads to the next floor. You can go there."
Haru opened her bedroom door, revealing that soft pink décor, and walked to her patio doors, where she opened it and said, "Hurry before he comes back here. He sure to want to seek me out."
Hifumi nodded and walked out onto the balcony and asked, "So go down these stairs, and that will lead me to the next floor, then take the elevator down, right?"
Haru nodded before a conflicted expression appeared on her face. "A part of me wants you to stay, but I feel that would be a mistake. My father mustn't know you were here."
"I know," Hifumi said.
The duo could hear footsteps nearing coming down the hall, and Haru quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something down on it before handing it to Hifumi. "I know that I'm making a mistake in letting you in like this," Haru began as she took Hifumi's hands. "The risks are too much to bear if we get caught, but I don't want to fight this anymore, and I don't want you to take any more necessary risks on my behalf."
Before Hifumi could speak, Haru's lips met hers in a quick kiss. "Go, we'll talk later about this and us. Hurry," Haru whispered.
Hifumi nodded and quickly retreated, but as she did, she heard the faint, slimy voice of Sugimura say, "Well, hello Haru."
[Scene Change: Shibuya – Shogi Arena (Afternoon)
Theme of Hollow Victory: So Happy World from Persona 5: The Royal]
"And with that, Togo Hifumi was won the match!"
A loud cheer was heard around her, but Hifumi only stared in despondence. In the distance, she could see her mother smirking proudly, but it only infuriated her. She should be celebrating her victory, but it felt hollow.
She should have been on cloud nine because Haru wanted to give whatever they were a shot, but the guilt she felt about leaving Haru alone with Sugimura was stabbing at her consciousness.
But curiously, Hifumi had come out on top.
She had beaten her opponent in a one-sided game.
Hifumi shook her head as she looked at the Shogi board.
That did not seem right to her.
Her mind was so distracted with guilt regarding Haru that she hadn't paid attention to any of the game.
How could she have won it?
Hifumi analyzed the board in front of her as the announcer said her name to the crowd's roaring applause and felt her eyes narrow in disbelief.
She was open in several places that could have easily lost this contest, and thus her winning streak. And yet, she had won.
"I should have lost this game. How can this be?" Hifumi whispered in disbelief. "With so many gaps, how did I ever win?"
Her opponent must have seen her befuddled expression because the disgusted look that he wore faded away into confusion.
Hifumi stood up, gave a slight bow to her opponent, stood up from the table, and walked off the stage without accepting her award. Instead, she went back to her dressing room and locked the door.
Unfortunately for her, her mother, Togo Mitsuyo, knocked on her dressing room door. "Hifumi, unlock the door!" her mother yelled.
[Theme of Mitsuyo: Troubled from Persona 3]
Hifumi wished that her mother would go away, but after another minute of incessant knocking, Hifumi walked to the door and swung it open for her mother.
Togo Mitsuyo was a modestly beautiful middle-aged woman with long brown hair, dark green eyes, and pale skin. She wore a floral blue dress with a white shirt underneath it to cover up any cleavage. She also wore black ballerina sandals and a pair of sunglasses, which hung over her neck.
And in Mitsuyo's hands was a championship title belt with a large golden octagon-shaped plate in the middle of the belt and two large gold and platinum square plates on the side of the large belt, each one holding a Shogi piece that had "Champion" written on it.
On the gold plate was a large golden eagle etched into the plate with its wings spreading to the belt's top. Between the outstretched wing was a small platinum-colored ribbon that held the words "Too Beautiful Shogi Player: Togo Hifumi," and the eagle's body had the words "World Grand Prix Shogi Champion" on it.
"Hello, sweetheart. I saw that you forgot this and opted to return it to you," Mitsuyo said as she waltzed into the room with the title in her arms.
"I don't deserve that," Hifumi argued as she shut the door behind her mother. "I shouldn't have won that match."
"But you did, dear," Mitsuyo replied. "You beat that loser fair and square."
"Fair and square?" Hifumi asked. "With the number of gaps that I left during that match, he should have quickly capitalized on my mistakes, but he didn't. That man is one of the top pros in Shogi. I shouldn't have won."
"Must not have been much of a pro to lose then," Her mother retorted with a laugh as she sat down on the plush couch. "But enough about that. You're worrying about the wrongs things right now. You should be worrying about your photo shoot tomorrow."
Hifumi flinched and scowled at the mention of that photoshoot. "I don't feel comfortable doing that type of shoot," Hifumi admitted.
"Well, if you want your name in lights like your father used to, you will have to do it. It's part of the process," Mistuyo told her as she stood up with the title belt and placed it in Hifumi's arms. "Remember—10:30 A.M sharp. A don't forget this. This is the crown jewel of the photos."
Hifumi sighed and whispered, "Fine…."
"Good, I have a meeting to attend. I'll see you at home. Don't wait up," Mistuyo told her before she walked out of the room.
Hifumi didn't even look back at her mother as the door closed behind her, leaving Hifumi alone in the room.
"So typical," Hifumi murmured as she held up her title. "Crown Jewel. Tch, not likely…."
"Aww. What's the matter, Champ?"
[Theme of Thy True Self: Bomb Shelter from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP Ver)]
Hifumi's head snapped up and in front of her was a mirror of her reflection, but what troubled her was that her reflection had yellow eyes glowing and a cocky smirk on her face.
And Hifumi didn't have either.
"We did it. We once again proved that we're the best," The reflection stated with a toothy grin as she gripped the title belt that was on her shoulder. "Isn't it thrilling holding this bad boy?"
"W-What is this?" Hifumi asked. "Who are you? How is this happening?
The reflection, still with the large grin, tilted her head and replied with, "This?" The image laughed. "Oh, You mean me, Champ? Well, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Ultimate Opportunist. I'm the Crafty Female Shogi Player. I'm the Man! I'm the Champ and I. Am. You."
[Scene Change: Shibuya - Shibuya Railway (Day)
Theme of Railway: Iwatodai Station from Persona 3]
"And here we are!" Morgana exclaimed cheerfully as the group of humans stood behind him, unaware of the blank expressions on their faces. "Welcome to Mementos."
Suddenly, Morgana felt a knuckle collide with the top of his head, which caused his head to slump in pain.
"Owww! Why?" Morgana whined out as he looked to the annoyed Ryuji, who had knelt beside him seconds before the attack.
"The railway? You hyped us for the railway?" Ryuji hissed out, his eyes wide, and his irises were missing.
"Oi! I was still hyping it up!" Morgana responded, his eyes also wide with his irises missing. "Gotta have some suspense in this world, y'know?!"
"Ryuji," Haru began from behind, which prompted the blond-haired delinquent to look back at her curiously. "He may be our Morgana, but to the outside world, you just hit a *giggle* cat for no reason."
Ryuji gave her a blink before he flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry 'Gana," Ryuji sheepishly apologized as he petted the top of his friend's head.
"It's okay," The peculiar cat responded, biting back a purr from the surprisingly soft hands the blond had.
"As amusing as this is," Ren drawled out as he looked around. "Can we get on with it while the area is empty? I don't want anyone interfering or finding out about this thing."
Morgana nodded. "Can any of you bring up the Phan-site so we can get our target?" He asked.
"I wrote it down. Nakanohara Natsuhiko," Ryuji said.
"Excellent foresight Ryuji," Morgana said. "So we have a name. Perfect. Now, in a normal situation, we have to look for the location and see it. However, for this particular person, all we have to do is type the name and type the code word, 'Mementos,' got that?"
Ren nodded and followed Morgana's instructions, and right after he typed the "S" to end the code-word, the world began to shift and change and the familiar feeling of time slowing down around them.
[Scene Change: Mementos (?)
Theme of Mementos: Mementos (Paths of Qimranut and Aiyatsbus) from Persona 5]
The moment the shifting stopped, the group of teens stood in the corrupted form of the station's main entrance, and for a moment, the group looked confused.
"What is this place?" Ryuji asked, breaking the silence.
"This is a strange place? Where are we?" Pixie's voice asked in Joker's head, which caused him to look up in alarm.
"Huh?!" Ren exclaimed.
"What's up, Ren?" Ryuji asked him with a turn of his head.
Suddenly, a combination of violet light, yellow lightning, red flames, and aqua blue rainfall formed around the four teens and Morgana, which caused Haru to shield her eyes.
Once the effects ceased, the four teens were in their Phantom Thief attires, and Morgana was back to his original form.
"Your clothes changed!" Haru exclaimed in shock.
"And I can hear Pixie in my head," Joker muttered to himself. "That must mean…."
"The Shadows know we're here?!" Skull shouted.
"Since the moment we appeared," Mona replied, his tone amused.
"You should have told us, Mona," Lioness admonished with a wag of her finger.
"Shit, we need to prepare for a fight, don't we?" Panther whined.
"Wait," Joker said with a raise of his left hand. "How Strange. We are here, and they know we're here, and yet we haven't been attacked," Joker announced.
"Of course. This area is safe from the Shadows. It works similar to the entrance to the Metaverse," Mona explained. "I tested it out myself. Shadows never come up here, but once we go down there, it's a whole different ballgame. It's teeming with shadows through this place."
"Interesting," Haru said as she crossed her arms. "But what exactly is this 'Mementos' and why did it convert the railway into this?"
"Mementos is everyone's palace," Mona said with a grin.
"What?!" The group exclaimed in surprise.
"A palace as grand as what we encountered with Kamoshida only happens when a single person's wishes are extremely distorted," Mona started to explain. "So instead of many palaces, the general public has one large shared palace. That is what Mementos is."
"Hmm, now that you say that, this does feel a little different from Kamoshida's masturbation fantasy," Skull stated as he leaned against a card scanner. "Much nicer looking too."
"But I don't understand," Haru said to Mona. "When you say 'shared,' you mean they're all put together, even though they are strangers?"
"Think of as the collective unconscious," Mona replied.
"I see," Joker said. "So even if they don't have a palace, we are still able to change hearts here? Perfect."
"Correct. Though the steps are different," Mona said.
The group was silent for a moment before Shiho broke that silence and asked, "This place looks so big…How will we traverse it?"
"Nya-ha ha. The time has come," Mona said with a large grin before he walked to the train track. "Morgana…" Mona began as he swayed his arms from left to right, then lifted his hands to the air and screamed, "TRANSFORM!"
An explosion of white smoke and cobalt blue energy covered Mona and the area that surrounded him for a moment, and when both faded away, a van stood in his place.
The van was colored dominantly black, with three yellow stripes on the hood (with the middle one being the thickest) that converged toward the left windshield.
On the grille sat a small golden emblem that was in the shape of Morgana's biped head. The headlights were gone, replaced by blue eyes that looked like Mona's.
There were ears are attached on the front side of the roof and a tail attached on the back
"Come on now, Panther. Ladies first," The Mona-Mobile said with an attempt at a flirtatious tone. The group stared in stunned disbelief, with Skull's finger pointed at the van as if it was an affront on all things logical.
It was then Joker asked, "How?"
"This comes from the way cognition materializes in the Metaverse. Plus a little training, It's not dissimilar to how you guys transform," The Mona-Mobile answered.
"You changed into a Van!" Skull exclaimed in disbelief.
"A Citroën H Van, to be specific," Haru interrupted briefly.
"That is different from our clothes!" Skull continued.
"Yeah, for some strange reason, cats turning into buses is a widespread cognition among the general public," The Mona-Mobile explained.
"Oh! I get it!" Lioness said. "I love that movie.
"Okay, hold up a second. Why didn't you do this when the castle was crumbling on our heads?" Panther asked.
"Yeah, that's a good point," Joker, Lioness, and Skull agreed in unison.
"Well, I would have if I could," The Mona-Mobile replied. "It was super cramped in there, and there were a ton of stairs, and my big ass in this form couldn't fit on top of a chandelier. Now come on."
The group looked at each other and shrugged before they got inside, with a happy Haru stating, "I've never ridden in a cat-car before. I'm excited."
Once everyone was situated, Joker looked down beneath the steering wheel and flipped the switch immediately, which caused the Mona-Mobile's engine to purr. "Oooooh that feeeeels soooooooo gooooood," The Mona-Mobile purred out. "Hoooooow did you knooooow Jooooker?"
"I don't know," Joker replied. "Déjà vu most likely, now let's drive!" And with his feet pressed on the engine, the Mona-Mobile shot off.
The group had traveled through Mementos' long and confusing corridors until the van came across a red and black energy-made portal with two train tracks curling into it. "We're here!" The Mona-Mobile exclaimed. "Drive through it!" The Mona-Mobile shouted.
Joker nodded and drove through the portal, and seconds later, they were on the side of the portal. "About time," Skull said. "If I had to deal with Joker's driving any more, I was going to puke."
"What? I drive fine," Joker stated with an offended tone.
"Dude, Panther, and Lioness are hugging in the back," Skull retorted as he pointed his thumb back at the pair, which prompted Joker to turn around to see the girls shivering and whimpering in absolute terror.
Meanwhile, Haru was sound asleep.
"At least Haru enjoyed it," Joker grumpily replied before he turned away and squinted his eyes. "Meanwhile, I see our target in that opening up ahead. Mona, why don't you hang back with Haru for a spell?"
"Sure. I need some rest after lugging you heavy people," The Mona-Mobile replied tiredly.
"Heavy?" Panther asked with an offended tone. "Are you saying Lioness, Haru, and I are fat?" Panther asked in an accusatory tone.
"W-What? No. Not at all, Lady Ann! You are all so skinny and beautiful. Not fat at all!" A panicked Mona-Mobile replied.
"Oldest trap in the book," Skull said as he patted the dash of the Mona-Mobile sympathetically before he opened the passenger door and stepped outside while an amused Joker got out the driver's side.
The two boys began to walk ahead at a slow pace, with Lioness and Panther catching up. "I gotta say, The Shadows hangin' round out there are really creepy," Skull said.
"I wish I could ask them what they're thinking," Lioness said with a thoughtful tone.
"I still can't believe Haru thinks those things are cute lookin'," Skull said.
"I mean in a….Nah, I couldn't continue with that," Panther said with an uneasy look.
"Well, anyway, you guys wanna grab some beef bowls once we're done with this?" Skull asked.
"Fuck yeah. I didn't eat at all today," Joker said with a groan.
"Joker!" both Lioness and Panther exclaimed, with the latter smacking him upside his head.
"Ow! Abuse!" Joker exclaimed.
As they got closer to the wide opening, they could make out a man in a business suit and a bowl cut hairstyle, and a pair of glasses with inky black tendrils of energy around him.
[Theme of Shadow Confrontation: Border of Insanity from Persona 4]
The second they got to the opening, the man's echoing voice asked, "Who are you?"
"Are you that stalker?" Panther asked.
Recognition appeared in the man's eyes, which gave the group their answer.
"Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your Ex feels by your creepy behavior?" Panther continued as she pointed her index finger at him.
The man snarled out, "She's my property! I can do whatever I want to her. It's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything! What's wrong with me doing the same?!"
"You can't treat someone terrible because it happened to you," Lioness explained with a cold tone.
"Yeah, what a load of bullshit!" Skull shouted. "This is why we're going to change the hearts of every shitty person, starting with you!"
"There are millions of people worse than me!" The shadow exclaimed. "What about Madarame?! He stole everything from me!"
"Who the hell is that?" Skull asked.
"Madarame?" Joker and Panther asked in unison as they shared a glance.
"Yeah! He stole my art, my dignity, and my self-respect! He's the one that you should be fighting, and yet you're letting him off the hook?!" Shadow Nakanohara answered as the inky black tendrils began to expand and twirl around him rapidly before it exploded, revealing his Demon form, the Obariyon.
"Now that I finally have what's finally mine, I will not let you brats take it away! This is a winner-takes-all world! Come fight me, and I'll show you what I mean!" Shadow Nakanohara screamed as it lunged towards the four teens.
[Battle Start: Path of Qimranut
Path of Qimranut Boss Battle theme: The Great Sign from SMT: Strange Journey Redux]
The group split apart to avoid the lunge from the Shadow Nakanohara, but the Demon swiftly turned its body to Lioness and shouted, "Lucky Punch!" Lioness lifted her shield and blocked the hard punch, which sent her skidding backward against the cement floor where she remained, her eyes swirling with stars around her head, stunned.
"Why you!" Skull shouted as he leaped into the air and swung his steel pipe, but the monster turned around and grabbed the pipe and swung Skull down to the ground hard where it then lifted its right hand and shouted "Lucky Punch!"
Skull lifted his left arm to shield himself from the massive fist, which nearly broke due to the amount of force of the blow, but it had a horrible effect of leaving Skull stunned in the small crater around his body, stars around his head, and his eyes swirling as well.
"Carmen: Incinerate!" Panther's voice shouted as Carmen flourished to life behind her in a pillar of fire. With glowing right eye, she launched a fireball from it, where it collided with the back of Shadow Nakanohara, who released Skull's pipe as it flew overhead of the downed thief.
Shadow Nakanohara crashed to the ground only to use its large hands to grind itself to a stop before it used those hands like a springboard and launched itself into the air where it shouted. "Tarukaja!"
An aura of fiery red energy wrapped around its being made its muscles bulge and veins throb out. It then spun around in the air as it fell in the direction of Panther as it shouted "Lucky Punch!"
"Panther, look out!" Joker shouted as he tackled Panther out of the way mere moments before the punch would collide into her, which caused a medium-sized crater in the cement. Joker and Panther rolled against the ground from Joker's tackle before they flipped up their feet.
'Pixie? Any word on this guy's weakness?' Joker asked the spirit within his heart.
"Um…I have no idea," Pixie responded. "I've never seen this thing before."
'Great…Guess I gotta guess….' Joker grimly replied as he shouted, "Silky: Freeze him!"
Silky appeared behind him with a flourish of icy wind and ethereal blue energy with her hand pointed towards Shadow Nakanohara.
Silky gathered ice into her palm before she launched it towards the demon, who turned around and smacked the ice away before it dashed forward and aimed a fist at Joker, who blocked it with his forearms before impact.
Joker skidded backward on the balls of his feet from the blow, which thankfully got him some distance from Shadow Nakanohara, but his arms were numb from the impact. "Switch: Kelpie: Blow him away!" Joker commanded.
Silky's body froze into ice and exploded only for the ice to swirl into the green wind where Kelpie appeared. Kelpie swung its mane with a neigh to send a gust of wind towards the demon, who blocked with its long forearms, causing it to skid lightly, but no damage was done.
"Carmen: Incinerate!" Panther's voice shouted suddenly, followed by an orb of flame which shot past Joker's left shoulder and into the demon, who shrugged off the fire then charged towards the pair.
Panther rolled to the left while Joker leaped over the creature the moment they got close, with Panther whipping her whip at the creature's neck, where it wrapped around it. "Panther, weaken it!" Joker exclaimed after he landed on the ground.
"Time to shrink you down to size. Carmen: Tarunda!" Panther yelled. A pillar of flame erupted from behind her to reveal Carmen, whose left eyes glowed a dull orange before an orb of dark orange and black collided with the creature, whose muscles and veins shrunk down until they were gone.
"My Power!" Shadow Nakanohara yelled as it turned around, inadvertently pulling Panther close, and launched a punch towards her oncoming head.
"Shock the World: Captain Kidd!"
A small orb of yellow lightning slammed into its back, which caused Shadow Nakanohara to scream in agony, which distracted him enough to miss Panther's head with his attack barely.
Instead, Panther jumped into the air and landed a knee to its large, cartoonish head, which caused it to lean backward from the blow. Panther pushed herself off its head while her whip unwrapped, and as Shadow Nakanohara's view was unobstructed, he saw Joker, with his right hand in the shape of a finger gun.
"Weakness identified," Joker said with a grin as lightning formed around his right hand, and with a burst of electricity, Pixie appeared at the edge of his finger. She gave a wink as her body became encased in lightning.
Shadow Nakanohara slowly turned its head just to see a giant lightning bolt shot out from the air where it then took the shape of a pirate ship where it landed behind Skull.
With ethereal blue energy encased in lightning, Captain Kidd stood on his deck, his cannon arm aimed at the demon, crackling with yellow electricity.
"Pixie: Electrocute/Shock the world: Captain Kidd!" The two Phantom thieves shouted in unison as Captain fired his cannon arm while an electrified Pixie shot forward. Lioness ran up from behind Skull and leaped onto his shoulder then jumped off of it, using him as a springboard to shoot herself into the air.
"Let's amplify this pain! Boudicca: Drown him!" Lioness shouted. An orb of water appeared behind her before it took a humanoid shape before it exploded in water and ethereal blue energy, revealing Boudicca, who smirked and formed an orb of water where she launched it down towards Shadow Nakanohara.
The water slammed into the body of the demon mere seconds before the duel Zio attacks sandwiched into it, causing it to wail in agonizing torture due to the pain it felt before its demon form gave out, reverting to the weakened human shadow form.
[Battle End
End of battle theme: Regret from Persona 5)
The four Phantom Thieves members circled the beaten shadow, who curled into a ball. "I was wrong…Please no more. I'm so sorry." The shadow whimpered as tears pooled in its eyes. "I-I wasn't always like this, you know? That evil teacher. H-He used and threw me out on the street…."
Joker frowned. "You mentioned the name of this teacher before. Madarame was it?" He questioned.
"Y-Yeah…I was unwanted from then on until I met her…I felt wanted…But when she left, I-I fixated on her because I wanted to find a way to be accepted again…" The shadow shuddered out as he began to sob.
"I see…" Lioness whispered sadly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you brought this poor woman into this."
"You're right. I'll stop. I'll put my end to her and apologize for all that I did," Shadow Nakanohara told them as he looked up at them. "You've changed my heart…If you can do that, then surely you can change Madarame's heart as well…I beg of you…Please. He will only continue to harm those under his care and take their dreams from him."
"We will," Joker responded.
"We will?" Panther asked with surprise.
"Thank you…" Shadow Nakanohara replied as a grateful smile formed on his face before his body shined and then shattered into beautiful particles of light, which developed into an orb of shining iridescent light.
"Whoa…What is that?" Lioness asked.
"A bud of a treasure. Had we left it be, it would have changed into a palace," The Mona –Mobile explained suddenly, which caused the four teens to jump in alarm turn around.
"What?" The Mona-Mobile asked.
[Scene Change: Shibuya – LeBlanc Café (Night)
(Theme of Café LeBlanc: Beneath the Mask from Persona 5]
"Hey Boss, Mind if I have some company tonight?" Ren asked the café owner with a sheepish smile.
Sojiro, who had his back turned to Ren, turned around only to shriek in surprise at the five teens, all of which looked to be on death's door due to exhaustion. "They were so exhausted that they couldn't make it home," Ren replied wearily.
"Kid, you all looked like death warmed over…." Sojiro said before he let out a sigh. "What am I going to do with you? Yeah, that's fine. Just go upstairs and keep quiet."
"Thanks, Sorjiro-san," the group said in unison before they walked upstairs. After setting up the sleeping bags that Haru had happily purchased for all of them, Ryuji and Ren rolled them out on the floor, laid down, and immediately went to sleep while Shiho and Ann went to sleep on Ren's bed.
And last but not least, Haru laid her sleeping bag on the couch and snuggled into it, and looked at her phone while Morgana curled up at her feet and dozed off. Haru sent a text to her maid Botan and was about to put her phone away when she received a text.
Hifumi: Hey, Haru-chan. Are you awake?
Haru looked around to make sure her teammates were sleeping, and when she heard snoring, she smiled at the text.
Haru: I'm awake, Fumi-chan.
Hifumi: Thank goodness. It's funny. Today has been so crazy but talking to you makes it seem worth it. I missed you….
Haru blushed.
Haru: I missed you too…
Hifumi: You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear that. Um….Haru-chan, if I tell you something, will you keep it between us?
Haru was perplexed.
Haru: Of course I would Fumi-chan. What is the matter?
Hifumi: I think I'm losing my mind….
Captain Blues: And that is all she wrote for this chapter. So this one was weird as it focused a lot more on Mementos which I wasn't expecting but welcomed. Since I'm taking over, I wanted to get a good feel for writing again after so long, so I hoped you guys enjoyed it. The next chapter will cover more Confidants and Madarame, Haru's conversation with Hifumi, and maybe an appearance of our High Priestess. So until that time, I'm setting sail!