The last day of the kid's exams started like any other for V.
She woke up, forgot she was sleeping in a pod, smacked her head and spent a few minutes lamenting their situation before sucking it up and getting ready for the day.
The only difference this morning was that Judy was already awake.
She was tapping away at her mini data-term with a focused and serious expression. She didn't even make a snide comment on the routine head bang.
"Something wrong?" V asked, her voice still hoarse from the sleep. Judy blinked and seemed to drag herself out of her own little world.
"Remember that data shard we pulled from the Cyberpsycho? I finally managed to pull some intact data out'a it, only a part of an archived convo, though. Everythin' else was as fucked as a Scav Haunt." Judy turned the terminal around and brought up the conversation in question. Honestly, V had completely forgotten about the shard up until now.
She jumped on the opportunity to refocus her priorities and gave what little Judy had salvaged a read over. It wasn't much, but it still held some valuable nuggets.
[Gurdur - I'm tellin' you, bro. This shit ain't no scop.]
[Wrecker - Nah. Sounds like a load 'o bull. Either you're gettin' played or you're gettin' fucked. No inbetween.]
[Gurdur - Eddies are Eddies. And this corpo gonk is payin' out like a damn fire hydrant. Job's simple; just gotta watch a Braindance and send in the biometrics. Talk about makin' money lyin' on your back!]
[Wrecker - That's talkin' about joy toys, fuck-face. Look, you wanna get yourself fried, I ain't gonna stop you. Just don't involve anyone else. 'Saka money is fuckin' worthless and we don't need that heat right now.]
[Gurdur - Whatever. Guess I'll keep all the Eddies to myself!]
V raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming Gurdur's our guy?" Judy nodded. "Huh… so Arasaka is paying people to watch the Mementos BD. Question is why. What good does sending a bunch of random people into an alternate reality do?"
"Beats me." Judy shrugged and closed the terminal. "I'll try grabbin' more, but for now, that's all I have."
Food for thought.
The morning progressed as normal. At least what counted as normal now. The day ahead was going to be another mind twisting journey into absolute craziness. After a lot of pestering and some sweet talk, V had finally managed to get the talking cat to take them into Mementos without the kids.
After all, they were apparently going to be frequenting the Metaverse for the foreseeable future. V wanted to learn as much as possible without putting the kids in more danger than necessary.
Especially if they happened to run into another missing-person-turned-monster.
After filling themselves up with another good meal - courtesy of the ever increasingly charming Sojiro - the trio met up with Morgana in Shibuya station.
Briefly, as they walked to the rendezvous, V's mind drifted to the more mundane aspects of their predicament.
All things considered, V hadn't eaten so well in her entire life. In Night City real food was usually only for the disgustingly rich. Everyone else had to make do with synthetic substitutes. Most of which tasted like styrofoam. But here, fresh real food was readily available. And it was cheap. Part of the solo was actually glad about getting stuck here.
Though the rest of her wanted to murder that part and dump it in a vat of industrial solvent.
As the group transitioned over into the Metaverse, V felt like her stomach was getting compressed as though she were being forced through a tube. A moment passed and the feeling subsided.
Before she noticed it, they were standing in Mementos in all its oppressive, ominous glory.
Morgana had assumed his mascot form and was now stretching and preparing. "So, you wanted to learn the basics? We've already gone over Treasures and Shadows…" he began to think to himself. "It might be wise to give you guys some code names like the others first."
"Codenames are for trickin' cognitions to cover your metaphysical tracks, right? Like military call-signs?" Morgana beamed at Judy's question. His chest puffed up in pride as he nodded with vigour.
"That's correct! The others picked their names based on their Thief attire, but seeing as the three of you don't actually have Personas of your own…"
River seemed to be somewhat less enthusiastic. He massaged the bridge of his nose and gave a heavy sigh. "Is all this really necessary? I'm not about to run around calling people by dumb names because of a small possibility it might affect the real world when you've already said that's impossible."
"Oh come on, Badges. Lighten up a little!" V smirked and nudged his shoulder. He eyed her with a quizzical brow. She replied with an overly exaggerated eye roll. "Badges. Because you used to be a Badge."
That didn't seem to help.
"Hah, here I was expectin' a Boy Scout joke." Judy grinned.
"I'm too old for this…"
"Anyway!" V clapped her hands and snapped back to a more serious tone. "I guess 'V' isn't going to work even if that isn't my real name. So I guess Merc works for me."
"Then I'll be Mox."
"Awesome. I'll be sure to tell the others after we're done here." Morgana hopped off the staircase railing and began to strut into the dark expanse of Mementos proper. "Hop in. The best teacher is experience." A few more steps and the cat leapt into the air. In a puff of strangely cartoonish smoke, he landed as his bus form. An act that V still couldn't get over despite the absolute ludicracy of their current situation.
And she was the designated driver!
As they trundled along the rickety tracks, Morgana began to explain. "As you know, things here are affected by the real world. For example, the weather might have a small impact on how the Shadows here act and react. Another example might be a national crisis that stresses out the general public."
"I suppose that makes sense."
"You mentioned that this Mementos place is a manifestation of the general public's cognition," Judy began to speak as she typed away at her data terminal. Likely taking down notes. "When we went up against that Nakanohara guy, you guys called it a Seedlin' Palace. What's that?"
"Another good question, Mox!" Mona lurched in excitement as they drove. "A Palace is what we call the manifestation of an individual's desires. If someone's desire becomes distorted enough, it develops into a Palace. That distortion then attracts Shadows which the Palace Ruler can subjugate and control. Like gathering an army. That said, Palaces don't just appear. They grow out from Mementos before separating off. Nakanohara was one such occasion. His desires were becoming more and more distorted which caused a Seedling Palace to bud and begin to bloom."
"But we nipped it in the bud. Literally."
"Precisely!"
Truth be told, V was having a little bit of difficulty keeping up, but she figured she had the general gist.
It still sounded like brainwashing.
If the result was someone coming clean and confessing their crimes, did that really justify the means? Conflicted was an understatement. These kids held power over an entire population without said population even knowing. That alone was cause for alarm.
Then another, more concerning alarm triggered in her mind.
If the Metaverse really had such an influence on reality, then…
"Oh fuck…" V slammed Morgana's breaks hard. The bus screeched to a halt. Mona yelped in surprise and everyone was thrown forward. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."
"What? What's wrong, V- er… Merc?" River rubbed his forehead with a pained look. He had just smashed his head against the back of Judy's seat. Meanwhile, Judy had lost grip of her terminal and was now desperately trying to fish it out from the depths of the passenger side floor.
"I know why Arasaka is paying people to watch the BD." V's face was stone cold as she stared out into the inky darkness. "Think about it. If the Metaverse can be used to alter someone's cognition on a fundamental level… of course Arasaka would want that power. Commodifying the human soul. Fucking hell, it's so fucking obvious. This is what Felix was talking about!"
She slammed a fist against Morgana's steering wheel. A growl escaped her throat and a look of sheer unfiltered hatred tugged at her face.
"I… don't know what you're talking about, but I'm going to assume it's to do with how you got into the Metaverse." Mona's voice had thankfully snapped V out of an internal spiral. Her expression softened and her shoulders relaxed.
"It's… a long story," V muttered and took a few deep breaths. "Sorry. Some of Johnny's ideals are still swimming around. I'm good now." With a quick shake of her head, she started Mona's engine back up and tapped the accelerator. Mona lurched forward, but everyone could tell he had some hesitation in his humming engine.
"Where we come from, Arasaka is a corporation that… well… to put it simply; they're responsible for some nasty shit. Exploitation, corruption, hostility… hell, there were even all out wars." River took up the mantle of explaining things much to V's relief. The merc still found it difficult talking about the corp for longer periods of time. "They already tried seizing dominion over the human soul. 'Secure Your Soul.' Make a digital engram of your psyche and then dump it into another body. Thanks to Merc, here, that program was shut down and destroyed."
V grumbled something inaudible in acknowledgement.
"So you suspect this corporation is trying to exploit the Metaverse for their own gain?" Mona jolted a little at the thought.
"That's… definitely a possibility," River replied almost to himself. "What Merc must be getting at is that Arasaka is sending people into the Metaverse as unwilling scouts."
"They either don't know the Metaverse kills you without protection, or they just don't care," Judy emerged from the passenger side floor with her terminal retrieved and sat back down. "My Eddies are on the latter." V huffed in a tone that could be called amusement. "Still, that's pretty fucked. I don't even wanna think about what those assholes would do with power like that…"
"Nothing good, that's for fucking sure."
Mona hummed in a strange tune. "From the sounds of it," he chimed with a strangely upbeat tone, "these Arasaka people don't know much about the Metaverse just yet. So for now, we should just concentrate on why we came here in the first place."
As if to further the cat's intent, a small device on Mona's dashboard blinked to life.
A small red light rhythmically pulsed on and off with a faint buzzing sound. "Oh! My Monar picked something up!"
The three looked at each other incredulously. "Mon… ar?" They each asked in unison.
"A stroke of genius on Lady Ann's part!" The bus swayed from side to side in what could only be described as glee. "She said that having a way to detect Shadows would make everything so much easier. So after lots of trial and little error, I created the Monar! Look, there it is! Oh… it has some friends…"
Sure enough, as the bus rounded the next corner, an inky mass of shadow and bone shambled around the passage. Humanoid in stature, but definitely not human. It was closely followed by smaller masses with stubby legs.
They were almost cute in a weird way.
V pulled to a halt and turned off Mona's engine. The Shadows hadn't noticed them yet at least. She then felt something rumble and squirm in her jacket's inside pocket. "What the…" cutting her off, Pixie burst out from the pocket and slumped over the steering wheel.
"Finally!" She exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how stuffy that was!? Honestly!" The Pixie slid down the wheel and landed on V's lap. Her fairy-like wings twitched and she arched her back in a stretch. The silence she was met with seemed to irritate her more. She huffed and fluttered into the air. Each of the passengers blinked in confusion.
"I wondered where you went," V broke the silence with a smirk.
The Pixie did not like that at all. "I didn't go anywhere! I've been trapped in your pocket for what feels like an eternity!"
The memory of Felix showing V a card with Pixie's image on it floated through the Merc's mind. So that wasn't just a card, but Pixie herself? How the hell did that work? To herself, V muttered under her breath; "Fucking magic bullshit…"
"Oh! This is perfect, actually," Mona brought everyone's attention back to the topic at hand. "I can teach you about fighting Shadows using Personas!"
"Excuse me, talking bus… but I am not a Persona! The nerve."
"Oh? You're a regular Shadow?"
"The cheek! How dare you!?" Pixie kicked the dashboard, regretting the action immediately. She let a quiet "ow" escape as she recomposed herself. "I made a contract with these humans. They're my slaves!" The distinct metallic clicking of a pistol being loaded and cocked shut the Pixie up. A large bead of sweat formed on her forehead before she hung her head in defeat. "Fine. Not slaves. Protectors."
"Huh…" Mona didn't seem to get it, but continued on anyway. "Well, either way, you still have power and that power can be used to fight Shadows. Everyone out! Demonstration time!"
Mona began to vibrate and without delay, everyone clambered out and onto the ground of Mementos. With a familiar popping sound and a gentle breeze, Mona reappeared as his regular mascot form. With a flourish and a grin, out came his scimitar. It gleamed as if reflecting a sun that wasn't there.
"Watch closely," he cleared his throat, took a step towards the distant Shadows and called out into the void; "Zorro!"
Wind picked up and roared past. It coalesced and coiled around Morgana, howling and swirling. V could almost make out a distinct laugh-like rhythm to the sound. With another flourish, the wind swept forward and from its serpentine force emerged a large figure. A broad chested, black clad man wielding a rapier. He bellowed a joyous laugh. [Bwaha! I am here!] The man called as he stepped forward through the rolling wind.
His exclamation certainly grabbed the Shadow's attention as it lurched forward. It groaned and wailed as the smaller Shadows followed suit.
"Zorro is my Persona and partner," Morgana began to explain. "His affinity allows me to harness the power of Wind. There are two ways to fight with a Persona. The first is to channel their power through your own body. The second is manifesting them to fight alongside you like so!" The cat charged forward side by side with Zorro.
They clashed with the large Shadow who roared in anger. The first blow caused it to lurch and twitch as its whole body seemed to swell and contract. Before anyone knew it, the thing burst like a tar bubble revealing a large, armoured and winged figure. It brandished a sword and lunged forward.
The stabbing attack was deftly deflected by a gust of wind.
Morgana jumped back and let Zorro take the lead. The cat looked back towards V and the others and grinned.
"I should mention there are two types of Shadows, too. The big armoured one is what we call a 'Greater Shadow' meaning it can take on its true form. In this case, it takes the form of Archangel. The smaller ones are 'Lesser Shadows'. They lack the ability to transform and are pretty weak… but they have big numbers."
"Does anybody get the sense this is basically just a game to the cat?" V smirked. Granted, she was mentally taking notes with avid interest.
'Know thy enemy' and all that.
Zorro let loose another boisterous laugh as he deflected another attack. He pushed the offensive and conjured a razor-like wind to strike the Archangel. It recoiled with a grunt of pain. [A true clash of noble warriors! Bwaha! En Garde, fiend!] He bellowed and took advantage of the opening. He thrust his rapier forward, aiming for gaps in the Archangel's armour.
Just as the blow was about to land, the smaller Shadows knocked Zorro off balance. His attack glanced off the breastplate harmlessly.
The Persona huffed and backed off. Supporting his partner, Morgana swooped into the combat and slashed up the smaller Shadows. They each let out high pitched cries as they dissolved into black vapour. "Zorro! Up high!" The cat called and without a moment of hesitation, Zorro grabbed Mona and flung him into the air.
Flipping gracefully, he drew his slingshot and began to pepper the Archangel with hard pellets. The cat almost seemed to be held aloft by a subtle updraft of wind. The Archangel tried its best to parry and deflect the pellets. And to its credit, it was doing a good job. Though seconds later, it wouldn't have mattered.
A glimmer of steel flashed through the air and pierced through the Shadow's armour. Zorro's rapier burst out the creature's back as he ran the thing straight through.
A shower of black ichor gushed from the wound and with a final flourish, Zorro cut swathes out of Archangel in a distinctive 'Z' pattern.
As it began to dissolve into the black vapour, Mona landed atop Zorro's shoulder and held a victory pose. [A battle won well! Bwaha!] Bellowed the Persona before disappearing in a whirlwind.
After landing on the ground with a gentle thud, Mona turned back to face the others and grinned.
Though everyone could tell he was barely hiding the fatigue of battle.
Pixie - however - seemed utterly enthralled. She clapped excitedly and danced through the air in glee. "Wowee," she squeed. "That was awesome!"
"Thank you, thank you." Mona bowed as if addressing a captive audience. V covertly rolled her eyes, thankfully unbeknownst to the cat. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure what the relationship is between you and Pixie, but I assume she can still aid you in battle like Zorro just did."
The three Night City dwellers each turned their gaze to Pixie.
Immediately, her excitement turned to outright terror. "Uh… f-fighting isn't really… my thing."
"So you are useless. Perfect." V grumbled with irritation. To which the Pixie's terror immediately turned to anger. She pouted and bicycle-kicked at the air. It was like a small child throwing a temper tantrum.
"I am not useless! I'm Pixie!"
As she kicked and squirmed in the air, yellow energy began to crackle and spark around the girl's wings. Eventually, the energy built up to a boiling point and a single arc of yellow lightning crackled through the air towards Morgana.
It didn't strike the cat, however.
Instead, the screeching of one of the lesser shadows pierced everyone's ears as its form convulsed and sizzled. The damn thing had tried to sneak up on everyone whilst they were distracted.
It popped unceremoniously and caked Mona in black ichor.
V had bore witness to many gory demises. Some she was responsible for. Even still, it was rare to see something completely explode from the inside. If the Shadow was just a little bit more like a human, the solo would have likely recoiled in horror. Instead, she watched Pixie with an expectant gaze.
Pixie was completely dumbstruck.
"I… meant to do that."
Any tension that had built up had thoroughly been deflated as Pixie sheepishly chuckled to herself.
Residual electricity sparked in the air surrounding her. Like a moth to flame, River couldn't help but slowly raise a chromed finger towards her. As expected, he got a nasty static shock and jumped back shaking his chromed hand in pain. "The fuck did you expect, Badges?" V laughed and earned herself a River death stare.
"Anyway…" Mona butted in. He did his best to wipe off the worst of the ichor which thankfully was beginning to dissolve. "I almost forgot. Most Shadows like to pick up things they like. Some items are useless junk, but sometimes…" the cat hopped over to where the Archangel had died. He began to rummage around the ground, perking up his tail a moment later. "Aha! Sometimes, they pick up valuable treasure like this!"
The cat held up a glistening object.
A quick scan from V's Kiroshi's revealed that it was a chunk of uncut quartz.
"Huh… so the monsters drop loot." V shook her head in disbelief. "Of course they do. Fuck me sideways, this place is going to kill me with weirdness…"
Still, she couldn't exactly complain. At least now the trio knew how to quickly make money if they needed it. Iwai was well connected and if he couldn't buy something, he more than likely knew someone who could. All things considered, the airsoft shop owner was the closest thing to a Fixer V had met in this reality.
"Alright, so how do you actually get in and out of the Metaverse? The kids mentioned a phone app," Judy tried getting everyone back on track, "but we… don't have phones."
"Yet another amazing question, Mox!" Mona replied. Cute as it may have been, V couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous of the slight blush Judy let dust her cheeks. "The others use something called the Meta-Nav. I don't know how it works, exactly, but it acts like a grounding conduit as it shifts the user over into the Metaverse."
"So if we got phones, how would we get this Meta-Nav?"
Mona thought for a moment. Though it seemed this time he was stumped. "I don't really know. The others mentioned it just appeared on their phones without warning. Joker apparently activated it completely by accident."
V grumbled. "We that's… useful."
"We can figure that out later, babe."
Judy's arm coiled around V's waist, pulling her into a hug. "Anyway, we should move on before more Shadows show up."
Everyone nodded in agreement and a moment later, the group was back inside Mona's bus form.
As they drove, River seemed to perk up as if a light bulb had pinged to life above his head. "Hey, remember that art store owner?" Judy nodded in response. V was a little busy with driving. "Maybe we should check if she has a seedling palace? Might give us some kind of lead to take to the kids?"
"Good idea," V spoke over her shoulder. "Mona, is there a way to search for something like that?"
"Of course!" The cat swayed in glee. "The Monar can pick up seedling palaces much like the Meta-Nav! You just have to enter in the name and if the person has one, it'll point the way."
Convenient.
Judy took the lead on this one and quickly entered the woman's name. Kimiko Ishida. Surprisingly, the Monar bleeped in response. She apparently had one and it wasn't all that far away.
"I guess we're going gardening…" V shrugged and with a quick gear shift, sped up and headed for their goal.
"When I said we're going gardening…" V's eye twitched as irritation set in. "I didn't expect to find an actual garden." Beyond the swirling vortex that led into Kimiko's Seedling Palace was quite an expansive field speckled with flower beds, trees and vegetable patches.
All of which were sat atop various floating land masses interconnected by sprawling tree roots and vines.
A soft breeze blew through the air which carried a sweet and refreshing scent. A scent V had never encountered before. There was no haze, no smog, no stench of gasoline, it was calm. Serene. It was completely different from Nakanohara's seedling palace. His was dark and oppressive. This held a feeling of freedom.
Mona looked around in awe. "This place is beautiful…" He wasn't paying attention to where he was stepping and it showed as he wandered concerningly close to a bed of vibrant flowers. "I wonder if Lady Ann would like this place…"
Squish
The cat looked down at his foot. A purple flower lay crushed underneath.
Almost instantly, the atmosphere darkened as though storm clouds were rolling in to block out a sun that wasn't there.
Black vapour began to swirl into a centre point not too far away. Slowly, an inky figure formed and from its depths out stepped Kimiko. She was dressed in an elegant Toga straight out of ancient Greece. Almost sorrowfully, she peered down at the crushed flower. "My poor dear," She uttered with a strangely angelic ring to her voice. "What have these intruders done to you?"
The Shadow knelt down next to the flower - Mona had backed well away from it by this point - and gently caressed its petals.
Slowly, the flower picked itself up and its vibrant colour returned, blooming anew. Kimiko smiled at the flower's recovery before shooting a glare at Mona.
"Explain yourself. What are you doing here?"
Mona jumped back with a gasp and instinctively reached for his sword. River, however, came to the rescue as he stepped forward and raised his hands. "Forgive us, Ishida-san. We don't mean any harm." The ex-cop put on his charming smile which seemed to work for a few moments. The woman's expression softened and the growing air of tension began to retract.
Though the lull in the situation was short lived.
She rose her guard once again and her features turned stone solid in a cold glare. "This is no place for lies," she made a wide gesture and a gust of wind blew past the group. On its trail an aroma filled V's nostrils.
Paint?
"We aren't lying. We just came to talk."
"Then talk."
Mona was still ready to fight and the twitching paw over the hilt of his sword did not make things easier. Still, River made the attempt to push on. Notably, his own weapon was also just within reach. "We want to know about Madarame."
Almost as soon as the name left his lips, Kimiko changed from a statuesque picture of stoicism to a cowering mess.
She clambered away. Her eyes widened in an almost crazed sense of horror. The area grew darker as actual storm clouds started to roll in. At least, they resembled storm clouds. Though they held a distinct appearance reminiscent of a traditional japanese painting.
"The fuck did you do, Badges!?" V immediately pulled out her pistol, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump.
"No! This place cannot be consumed by… him! Uttering his name gives him power!" Kimiko tucked herself into a ball and tried making herself as small as she could. Mona seemed to grow more alert at her response.
"Oh no… that means the threat here isn't Ishida… it's…"
[ME, THE GREAT MADARAME!]
The voice was more of a thunderous boom than an exclamation. The clouds began to swirl into a whirlwind. Shapes shifted and morphed within the growing storm. Then the clouds began to make the shape of a colossal face. An unfamiliar one. Though made of stylised clouds, V could make out the form of a beard, tightly tied back hair and the distinct contours of a matured old man.
Ichiryusai Madarame.
"Everybody fuckin' move!"
Judy's cry was just in time for everyone to react. Each of them dove to the side - each in opposite directions - as a great bolt of crackling lightning struck their position. The impact caused a raging inferno to immediately start, completely incinerating the bed of purple flowers.
The flame moved unnaturally fast, forming impassable walls.
The team had been completely separated from one another. Though they were all taunted by the cackling visage of Madarame.
This was certainly one way of gathering intel.
Author's Notes
Sorry this chapter took a little longer to get done. Life's been a little on the hectic side. This chapter mainly exists to explain a few of the changes I've made to how Metaverse combat and Personas work. It's also here for set up purposes. There's something larger going on and things are getting weird! Also, it's fun to have more expanded Mementos shenanigans.