Captain Blues: Ahoy! Here I am with another new chapter of Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate and hoo-boy, there is a lot of stuff going on. So let's cut my welcome back short and enjoy the show!
Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Seventy-Six
[Opening Scene: Metaverse - Unknown Palace
Theme of Unknown Palace: Gentle Madman from Persona 5: The Royal]
Joker never felt more exhausted than he did the minute Kasumi said those words.
Hell, he was exhausted the moment he saw Sumire and it only grew to an overwhelming need to turn around and go home. But that wasn't who he was. He couldn't allow himself to turn away from anyone in need, even if the person had hurt him as deeply as Sumire had done him.
Besides, walking away from someone in need wasn't what she would do under any circumstances.
"What do I have to do?" Joker asked.
Kasumi smiled in appreciation and shakily replied, "We have to open her eyes to the truth and the best way we can do that is just talk to her. Break through any defenses she could bring up. And then strike at the deepest part of her soul with the undeniable truth."
"And how will we do that?" Mona questioned with a cross of his arms. "I mean, that all seems like a tall order, you know?"
"It is," Kasumi admitted. "But if we can do this, it will save the both of us and who knows how that can things."
Joker and Mona looked at one another and then back at Kasumi. "Alright, do we have a timeframe of when this needs to be done?"
"Yes…" Kasumi answered. "Now."
"Now?!" Joker and Mona shouted in disbelief.
Kasumi nodded as a jolt of pain sent her back to one knee. "If you two h-haven't noticed…I'm in a lot of pain and have been holding back a lot of pain from Sumire since the day you caused the splinter in her soul, Rennie."
"I caused the splinter?" Joker asked. "How the hell did I manage that?"
"The night you yelled at her," Kasumi answered.
Joker looked confused for a moment until it struck him like a sledgehammer. The night when his emotions took over. The night that drained him to the point where he fell unconscious in Makoto's arms.
The night of their confrontation.
"You yelling at Sumira broke her, Ren. But, it was the first moment when the thick façade that man put on her began to crack. It gave me an opening to appear before her," Kasumi explained. "But that also caused Shadow Sumire to awaken, as she is half of me. And the pain Shadow Sumire is going through would have destroyed Sumire if not for me."
"So, you're blaming Joker for this?" Mona asked with anger in his voice.
"Not at all," Kasumi answered. "Ren gave us a fighting chance by doing what he did that night. Had he not done what he did, we wouldn't be talking right now."
"So, is that what I have to do?" Joker asked. "Yell at her again?"
Joker didn't particularly enjoy yelling at Sumire or the pain that followed his explosion.
"I would hope not," Kasumi laughed. "As I said, a conversation where we can break down any weak defenses she could bring up should be en—"
[Theme of Danger: Desire from Persona 5]
An explosion of lavender and black energy appeared behind Kasumi, revealing a lanky, purple, and black, vaguely humanoid being with messy hair and a turquoise/white mask with black spirals and a pale blue spot on the side.
"Kasumi, look out!" Joker yelled.
The humanoid whipped its arms out, and struck Kasumi in the back, which sent the girl flying toward the duo. Joker jumped into the air and caught her while Mona pulled out his slingshot and fired three steel balls at the figure.
The being fell on all fours and jumped from side to side to avoid the balls as Joker landed on the ground and asked, "Kasumi, are you alright?"
Instead, the familiar eyes of Sumire looked up at him. "Ren?" Sumire drowsily whispered.
"Sumire," Joker whispered.
"Heresy!" The being hissed as Mona skidded in front of Joker and Sumire with his falchion in hand. "You dare try to take away our lord's mercy?!"
"What is that?!" Sumire shrieked and clung to Joker.
"Relax, Sumire. I won't let anything happen to you," Joker told her. "I promise."
"Our lord laments the foolishness birthed from your pain, Yoshizawa," The figure spat. "And instead of thanking him for sacrificing his power to heal you, you allow your other half to spit in his face."
"W-What is that thing talking about?" Sumire whispered in fear. "And how does it know my name?"
Joker sighed and replied, "We can talk about that later…"
"We need to focus up," Mona warned. "This thing looks like it's ready to rumble with us."
"Accept the mercy that our lord has given you, Yoshizawa, or perish with your other half!" The shadow exclaimed before it exploded into an inky substance, revealing Evil Synthetic Organism.
"Okay…That's something, alright," Joker breathed.
"Joker! Get Sumire out of here, I'll hold this thing back!" Mona exclaimed.
"I won't allow you to fight this thing alone, Mona," Joker told his partner.
"It's too bad I didn't ask for your permission!" Mona shouted. "Go! Now!"
Joker closed his eyes and then scowled. "I'll come back, Mona. I promise!" Joker exclaimed as he attempted to carry Sumire out of the area, only to stop when three lanky shadows appeared in his way.
The shadows exploded to reveal Killer Teddy Bear, Wandering Reviver, and Deformed Lion God.
"You heathens won't be going anywhere!" Evil Synthetic Organism shouted.
[Theme of Unknown Palace Battle: Gentle Madman (Reinterpreted) from Persona 5: The Royal/Damusicmahn]
"Ren, What are we going to do?" Sumire whispered.
"Simple…." Joker began as he sat Sumire down on the ground. He pulled out his dagger and then his pistol as he finished, "Fight our way out…"
"Kill the nonbelievers!" Evil Synthetic Organism commanded.
"Get out of here, Sumire! Arsène, Eiga!" Joker summoned. Dark clouds with twinkling stars formed around Joker's body before Arsène's form took shape.
Joker and Arsène quickly snapped their fingers, causing a burst of red and black energy to collide with Killer Teddy Bear as Deformed Lion God roared and charged forward, along with Wandering Reviver.
Sumire screamed and scrambled to the left as Deformed Lion God swung its left paw at Joker. Joker jumped back to avoid it, only for Wandering Reviver to glide in from the left to kick Joker in the face.
Joker skidded and blocked the next three kicks from Wandering Reviver with his dagger as he shouted, "Dream Needle!" Arsène appeared once again, opened his wings, and shot several pinpoint needles at Killer Teddy Bear and Deformed Lion God, which thankfully put the latter to sleep.
Killer Teddy Bear charged forward, jumped into the air, and shouted, "Miracle Punch!" Killer Teddy Bear's arm enlarged to comedic levels and gained a gold boxing glove as the arm attempted to strike Joker.
"Arsène!" Joker called.
Arsène used his wings to block the blow as Joker aimed his pistol at Wandering Reviver's head and fired, only for the cloaked shadow to avoid each point-blank shot before he nailed Joker in the side with a kick.
Joker staggered and blocked two more kicks with his dagger and retaliated with a kick to the Shadow's midsection and slashed his dagger at the Shadow's face, sending it staggering backward.
"Brain Shake," Wandering Reviver whispered with a haunting tone as it lifted its right hand and fired a black orb with jagged maroon energy surrounding the orb toward Joker. Joker rolled to the left to avoid the attack, sprang to his feet, and charged ahead to perform a sweeping slash at the shadow.
Wandering Reviver slunk below to the swing of Joker's weapon and placed his hand on Joker's chest. "Eiagon," the Shadow whispered.
A large and powerful wave of black and purple energy slammed into Joker's chest at point-blank range, where several black and red beams with skulls laughing within them flew from out of his back before Joker was sent flying through Arsène and slamming against the pristine white walls.
Joker fell to one knee as he coughed out blood.
"Miracle Punch!" Killer Teddy Bear shouted, which prompted Joker to look up and narrowly avoid being punched in the face by a large golden boxing glove by rolling to the right.
Joker rolled onto his feet and shouted, "Arsène: Cleave it!" Arsène appeared once again and performed a downward ax kick, which slammed against Killer Teddy Bear's head, sending it face-first into the ground.
"Switch: Kelpie: Blow him away!" Joker summoned.
Arsène's body formed into a cloud of twilight mist which then swirled into the green wind as Kelpie took shape.
Kelpie swung its mane with a neigh to send a gust of wind knocking into Wandering Reviver, sending the shadow off its feet and sailing to a farther wall, where it lay on the ground, stunned. "Weakness Identified!" Pixie shouted in Joker's head, which made him smirk.
A roar caught Joker's attention moments before the snake from Deformed Lion God lashed out and slammed into his stomach, causing Joker to fly backward into the back wall. Joker fell to one knee and jumped at an angle to avoid a large ice pellet from the mouth of Deformed Lion God's goat head.
"Kelpie: Terror Claw!" Joker commanded. Kelpie neighed and aimed a right hoof at Deformed Lion God and caught the shadow in the head, leaving a large, dark purple claw mark on its face. Unfortunately, Deformed Lion God opened its mouth and fired a large fireball at Joker.
Joker holstered his pistol, pulled out his Phantom Claw, and grappled away from the fireball moments before it could have incinerated him. "Kelpie: Blow him away!" At Joker's command, Kelpie neighed and swung his mane, which not only struck Deformed Lion God in the face but also sent it flying back with a gust of wind.
The shadow slammed into Evil Synthetic Organism, whose large bug-like arms, kept trying to strike at Mona's quick-moving body, sending both shadows to the wall. "Another weakness identified!" Pixie shouted as Evil Synthetic Organism pushed the stunned Deformed Lion God off of its body.
Joker landed on the ground, only to buckle and fall on one knee at the pain left behind by Wandering Reviver's Eigaon. "Switch: Silky: Heal." Joker panted out.
Kelpie neighed and swirled into a green twister, which then turned into an icy-blue wind and ethereal blue energy before it exploded to reveal Silky. She knelt beside him, placed her hand against his chest, and whispered, "My master... Allow me to take care of your wounds…."
Joker felt the familiar warm and tender breeze flow through his body as the intense pain faded into a dull one."Thank you, Silky," Joker whispered as he stood up with Silky floating behind him as Wandering Reviver stood on his feet, along with Killer Teddy Bear. "Switch: Apsaras: Rain on their parade!"
Silky smiled as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and exploded into shards of ice, which formed into drops of water.
The water then coalesced behind Joker before it took the shape of a humanoid, where it exploded to reveal Apsaras, who grabbed her sheer scarf and swung it, causing a barrage of water bullets at the two shadows.
Both Wandering Reviver and Killer Teddy Bear were pelted by the water, but while Killer Teddy Bear was weighed down by the water's weight, Wandering Reviver dashed toward Joker as it held its right arm back as cursed energy formed in its hand.
No.
It wasn't going toward Joker.
It was going toward…
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sumire trembling against the wall in the trajectory of Wandering Reviver's path.
"Sumire!" Joker screamed in a panic as he aimed his Phantom Claw and shot his grappling hook to the opposite wall, where it embedded itself within it. Joker then grappled toward the wall as he shouted, "Drench him, Apsaras!"
Apsaras floated backward and then glided at the oncoming shadow as she formed a medium-sized orb of water in her left hand, and shouted, "Aques!" She slammed the medium-sized orb of water into the side of Wandering Reviver's face moments before it could use its attack, which sent him flying past Joker and slamming against the wall.
Joker let out a scream as he swirled his dagger and landed feet first on the wall while simultaneously ramming his dagger into the head of Wandering Revivor, which caused it to explode into an inky black substance.
Joker could hear the roar and the thundering charge of Deformed Lion God coming from behind him and quickly flipped off the wall just as the shadow slammed into it, and landed in a crouch, only to narrowly avoid Killer Teddy Bear's golden boxing glove as it shouted, "Miracle Punch!" by rolling backward.
Joker sprang to his feet and Killer Teddy Bear cocked both arms back, shouted, "Triple Down!" and rapidly jabbed the air, sending three small golden pellets that slammed into Joker's right shoulder, left hip, and right thigh, causing blood to fly from the areas.
Jokier buckled and fell to one knee with one eye closed.
Killer Teddy Bear cackled as Deformed Lion God opened its mouth and fired another large fireball but not at Joker, but at Sumire.
Sumire screamed as Joker used all of his remaining power and darted toward the terrified girl before the fireball could make it to her.
He had to get there. He had to save her at any cost.
With a scream, Joker leaped off the ground, put himself in front of Sumire, who was pressed against the wall, and a mere five seconds before the collision, Joker managed to shout, "Jack-O-Lan—" before the fireball slammed into his body.
"Joker!" Mona screamed as he caught the fireball slamming into Joker's body out of the corner of his eye before a large pillar of flame exploded from the area.
Mona growled and pushed his blade forward against Evil Synthetic Organism's arm to take it off balance and then jumped up to kick its chest, sending it gliding backward. Mona landed in a crouch and shouted, "Blow it away, Zorro!"
A green tornado appeared behind Mona and then exploded into blades of wind as Zorro appeared and immediately swung his rapier toward Evil Synthetic Organism, who darted in the air to avoid the green twister.
"Death Scythe!" The shadow wailed as it spun around and swung both arms toward each other as black and purple energy, in the shape of claw marks, slammed into both Zorro and Mona, sending them flying back as mists of black/dark purple ghosts wailed into the air.
Mona landed on all fours and sprang to his feet with a slight tremble. He could feel the fear trying to take hold but he fought against it and steeled himself for combat as a robotic bee-like shadow glided toward him at top speed.
He had to survive to get Joker, and Sumire out of here!
Sumire watched in absolute terror as the pillar of fire, mere inches from her face, shrunk and faded out of existence to reveal Ren's body, whose jacket was missing, revealing his charred skin with cracks of molten flame glowing through various areas of the charred skin while embers floated from his body.
His body stood, with his arms opened wide and his head bowed as a pumpkin-headed figure wearing a tattered cloak floated in front of him with its lantern raised. "R-Ren?" Sumire gasped.
The figure in front of Ren wailed as Ren fell through it, dispersing the strange creature into cinders, and crashed face-first into the ground. "R-Ren!" Sumire screamed.
[Theme of Thy True Self: Bomb Shelter from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP Ver)]
Sumire scrambled to Ren's side as the world darkened around her. "Ren! Ren! Please wake up!" She could see that Ren was still breathing but it was so weak that at any moment, he could breathe his last breath.
"No…no, no, no, no, no…." Sumire chanted, each "no" coming out in a more frantic plea. The world flickered and Sumire found herself in the middle of the street, her hands shaking her sister's deceased body as she stared straight ahead, her irises faded into the whites of her eyes.
The world flickered again and Ren had those same iris-less eyes. "This can't be happening," Sumire whispered to herself with a deep sense of dread. "No, no…this can't happen to me again! Help!" Sumire screamed.
The world flickered and Sumire was back on the street, wailing, "Help! Someone please!"
It's all her fault.
It's all her fault.
It's all her fault.
"Please!" Sumire cried as she looked around, only to see that the crowd was gone and standing, just a few feet away from her, was her sister, who had a sad look in her eyes.
"Oh…Sumire…"
Captain Blues: Welp, this was a way to get me back into the game. A brawl lol. What will happen next? Find out in the next chapter! Until then, time to set sail!