Persona 5- Oracle's New Weapon
It was a nice and cool autumn evening in Yogen-Jaya, but unfortunately, we will not be focusing on the many day to day activities of the residents in that neighborhood. The focus of our tale though will be on the people who are currently sitting in Café Leblanc's main area. Well to be precise, two humans and a cat who wishes it to be known that despite appearances he is not a cat.
In one of the booths of the café sat the owner's adopted daughter, Futaba Sakura. She was currently working at her sticker covered laptop, monitoring the requests that were submitted to the Phantom Aficionado, a website created by one of the Phantom Thieves biggest supporters Yuuki Mishima. Of course, being the navigator for the team, Futaba (aka Oracle) needed to keep herself in the know about any and all requests now, especially given the latest events that had passed down, brought about by the teammate they were currently keeping tabs on, Goro Akechi. But we'll go back to him soon enough.
Working behind the counter brewing a new pot of coffee (French Vanilla roast, beans provided by Duncan Hill Coffee) was the leader of the Phantom Thieves himself, Ren Amamiya. While he had a lot of things on his mind at the moment, brewing coffee was his one way to deal with some of the stress of his duties as a student and team leader. (It also did not hurt that the coffee and curry he made had some beneficial properties. Sitting on one of the stools was another team member, the one who taught Ren the basics of phantom thievery and how the Metaverse worked: Definitely Not A Cat Morgana. However, for the purposes of this story (and because the author finds it a lot more humorous to do so) we will be referring to him as a cat when it applies to the situation.
The black and white fur covered Persona user watched both of the team members work as he remarked "The plan seems to be going well right now. We just need to make sure that Makoto's sister gets the phone in her hands before Akechi reaches Ren."
"That will be the tricky part," Ren remarked as he adjusted the fire underneath the coffee pot. "we are dealing with a stacked deck here. I'm just glad that the area surrounding her palace is the same layout here in the real world. We just have to watch our steps and take care of these last few requests before we send the calling card."
"Fortunately for us, we don't have to worry about any more hacking of the Phan-Site," Futaba pointed out as she furiously typed away, "so we can focus on building our strength. Still, we got a lot of good intel regarding how Akechi may be planning this."
"The guy's sharp, but pretty arrogant," Ren mused. "I think he believes we fully trust him."
"Not surprised," Morgana said," since he's been trying to manipulate everything from the start. I still think Futaba's suggestion about his next visit would give it away."
"What? The one about eating pancakes while he is talking with us? That was actually Haru's idea."
"That definitely sounds like something she would suggest." Ren agreed.
"But that reminds me…" Futaba stopped typing and looked at Ren and Morgana with a inquisitive look on her face. "Akechi mainly uses things like a laser pistol or beam sword to fight in the Metaverse…"
"Don't you mean light sa—"
"No Ren, we can't say that." Morgana reminded him.
"Anyway, he uses that stuff in the Metaverse because of the power of cognition."
"Yeah," Morgana said, "the Shadows see it as a threat and as long as they perceive it as a threat, they will work in the cognitive world."
"So, with that being said…I have an idea." Futaba eagerly turned the laptop over to show the screen to Ren and Morgana. Ren raised an eyebrow and Morgana scratched his ear as she said "I think I wanna test this bad bout out on the next trip into Mementos."
"That could be tricky," Ren said, "but I think it could be done."
"If we're going to where I think we're going, I know he's gonna ask you questions. And he's not the type to ask questions." Morgana told Ren.
At this point in the conversation, Sojiro Sakura, the owner of Café Lelanc and Futaba's adoptive father, returned to the café from his grocery run. Placing the bag of groceries from the local market on the counter, he said to the trio "I think we have more than enough ingredients to make curry now. Man, the market was PACKED today. I never thought we'd get so much interest in an obscure foreign made marshmallow."
"Please tell me you got a box!" Futaba happily squealed.
"I had to spar with Ms. Nozawa for one, but here you go." Sojiro tossed her a white box with red and blue lettering before looking towards the screen of her laptop. "Don't tell me…this is all part of your mission, right?"
"Futaba's idea."
"Hoo boy. Just…keep it in here. I don't think there's enough room in her closet to store that one."
Located in a small alleyway somewhere in Shibuya (right across the street from Big Bang Burger) was the store known as Untouchable. Run by Munehisa Iwai, this was the place for many an airsoft enthusiast to get their hands on the best replica military gear. Not only that, Iwai also carried props and weapons from various movies and anime series. Most of the gear that the Phantom Thieves used was bought from Iwai, who never questioned why they would want to use these items.
The surly manager was currently seated behind his counter, reading a magazine as Ren walked in the store. Casually placing the book down, he smiled and said "Ah, I was wonderin' if you'd come in today. Sorry, but I don't got any work for you now. I did get some new items if you are buying."
"Speak of the devil. I actually am looking for one particular item. Futaba wanted to know if you still had it." Ren said to Iwai.
"Futaba? Oh yeah, the cute red haired one. So, are you two—"
"I think Makoto might literally punch me to death if I did anything with her." Ren nervously said.
"Ah, right. Piece of advice kid; if you do date, just date the one. Dating more than that will end in tears." Iwai warned him.
"So I keep hearing."
"Anyway, what were you looking for exactly?" Ren immediately took a piece of paper and handed it over to Iwai. Whistling, he looked at Ren and asked him "Is she planning on shooting a amateur movie or something? If she is, I got other replicas to go with this."
"No, not yet. She wants to stick with the basics right now."
"Ah. Then I got the 1984 model if you are interested. And I was able to get the 2009 models alongside the 2016 one. That one is kind of unique, but I find a lot of buyers wanna stick with the retro."
"I'll think about that one if the test is successful and Haru wants one." Ren replied, stroking his chin. "How soon can I get it?"
"How does today sound?"
Somewhere, deep in the depths of Mementos (If you want the precise area, it is the Path of Adyeshach that this part is occurring in), the Phantom Thieves found themselves in quite a pickle. Not just any pickle, the kind you hope that you could avoid but due to some error on the chef's part, the pickle was now a freaking demon, and your options were fight or flight.
And you chose 'fight'.
Good call...if you have a death wish.
The current lineup of Ren (Joker), Makoto (Queen), Ryuji (Skull), and Ann (Panther) were face to face with an enemy that no sane person who ever explored the depths of Mementos (Or Tartarus…or the Midnight Channel…) would want to face, that being The Reaper.
No one knows the origins of the Reaper. Was it the manifestation of Death given form by the consciousness of the masses? The ghost of a previous Persona user? The servant of a god? (Ok that part may be true, but since the events or Persona Q are not remembered by those who participated in it, we can't really speculate anyway.) It's hard to say with certainty. The point though is that the Reaper was very much real and in front of the team now, with murder on its mind.
The black clad figure, wrapped in chains and wielding two large revolvers, floated before them now, giving off an aura of intense darkness. In the background standing by were the other members of the team: Morgana (Mona), Yusuke (Fox), Haru (Noir) and Pancake Boy-err I mean Akechi (Crow). The Reaper howled as Panther angrily said to Skull "I TOLD YOU we were taking too long to finish this floor!"
"Hey, how was I supposed to know there would be so many treasure chests on this level?" Skull shot back.
"To be fair, Oracle's scan did show there was a significant spike in treasure chests, so maybe that was what should have clued you in," Crow pointed out, "and then there is the matter of our business with Jose."
"Fine, fine, I GET IT!" Skull rolled his eyes.
"In any case, we have a fight on our hands," Queen assessed the situation carefully. She knew the battle ahead of them would most likely be a costly one. But she knew how to handle these sorts of things now. "Joker, we'll need you to boost our defense along with Panther while Skull and I hit this thing as hard as we can. Then we can—"
A sudden whine of an engine pierced the air. Everyone (even the Reaper itself) perked their ears in attention.
"Uh…what is THAT?" asked Crow.
"I think it may have to do with what Oracle was carrying with her today." Fox observed as he looked behind him.
"Yes. In fact, you may all want to stand aside for a bit." Noir suggested. Joker immediately took up her advice as the other team members near the Reaper did the same.
Ryuji, not exactly in on the conversation asked "Wait why are we moving back—"
"EAT THIS!"
Oracle's voice echoed in the chamber shortly before the following series of events occurred: a undulating stream of energy, orange and blue, shot out from the rear of the group and struck the Reaper dead center. The ominous monstrosity howled in pain as the beam wrapped itself around the large form. Oracle stepped forward in full view of everyone and everyone could see what she was currently wielding, that being a particle thrower attached to a fully functional proton pack. The young navigator had a menacing grimace on her face as she yelled out "HOW DO YA LIKE A BILLION VOLTS OF PURE PROTON ENERGY HITTING YA?"
Skull, naturally, had the appropriate response ready for this situation.
"WHAT THE EFF IS THAT?!"
"Who cares what it is-HIT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" Queen told the others.
AN HOUR LATER, BACK AT CAFÉ LEBLANC…
"Successful test." Futaba beamed as she eagerly ate her plate of curry.
The other team members (sans Akechi, who had other more pressing matters supposedly) were in the middle of discussing the events of their previous operation. Understandably there was a bit of a spirited conversation in regards to the results.
"Of all the things that Futaba could have asked for…she had to go for THAT?!" Ryuji inquired.
"I guess in a certain way it makes sense. When you stop and think about it, Shadows are like ghosts." Haru mused.
Shivering, Makoto said to her "That does NOT make me feel better. But it got results and I'm not going to complain about it. But why are you still sketching, Yusuke?"
"The explosion of the Reaper was an incredible sight to behold," Yusuke replied as he was in the middle of his work with the sketchpad, "and something like that must be immortalized in some way."
"I was just amazed when the Reaper tried to get away but Futaba managed to slam it into the ceiling." Ann recalled.
"Ok, but really, why not a weapon from a video game?" Ryuji pointed out.
"Futaba rubbed her chin in thought. "Well, the BFG9000 was too huge for me to lug around, so that one was out of the question. And some of my other choices were too cumbersome so I figured why not go with something more familiar."
"And since Iwai still had some of the replicas in storage, Futaba figured this would be a good time to try one out." Morgana concluded.
"Good thing too, that was certainly a life saver," Makoto sighed, "so maybe we should save it for emergencies or if we have to fight anything that could be considered a Class 7 threat."
"Hey, why not give us more than one? I mean I'd like to have a little extra firepower too." Ryuji suggested.
"I think one is more than enough." Ren said.
"Agreed," added Haru, "having more than one would be risky and we don't want to risk crossing the streams."
"Why?"
"That would be bad." Makoto stated.
"REAL bad." Ann nodded.
"Ok. Just how bad are we talking?" It was obvious Ryuji never saw the movie.
"Ryuji, try to imagine accidentally seeing Ann, Makoto and Haru all in the hot springs naked. Now multiply it by, say, 1000% and you get what I mean." Futaba said to him.
The faces of Ryuji, Morgana, Ren and Yusuke became pale as Silky upon that revelation.
"I got it. No more proton packs."
BONUS: A SUMERIAN MASK
Location: The Velvet Room
The Twin Wardens, Caroline and Justine, looked upon the newest Persona that was just created for Ren.
Understandably they were…bewildered.
"What…the hell…is THAT?" Caroline asked.
"It is a deity of Sumerian descent as far as I know," Justine said to her counterpart, "but this is the first time anyone has actually ever summoned it. For this to occur, the situation that the inmate is in must be very dire."
"No duh. Well, what's done is done. No use worrying about it now. I just feel sorry for the poor dope he pits against it."
In the depths of Shido's Palace, specifically in the boiler room area, stood the Phantom Thieves, near the end of their quest to change the heart of the one who was responsible for much of the conspiracy that took the lives of countless people, Masayoshi Shido himself.
Shido, the one who had stolen the research of Futaba's mother and organized her death, had been the one who benefited from the crimes of Kaneshiro and Madarame, the man who was trying to position himself as Prime Minister of Japan, and the man who arranged for the death of Haru's father. The same man who had falsely accused Ren of assault and had him arrested. It was finally time to take him down before Shido could take them down.
There was just one person standing in their way:
His son, Goro Akechi. The one who had been behind all the mental shutdowns, including the one on Principal Kobayakawa in order to further implicate the Phantom Thieves in the death of Kunikazu Okumara.
And Akechi was REALLY upset that somehow the Phantom Thieves figured out how to beat him at his own game. Taking out the two Shadows he sicced on them probably didn't help his mental state. To be fair though, his mental state wasn't precisely what we can call "stable" to begin with.
At this point, Akechi decided it was time to show them all his true power. He has something that only Joker had access to: the ability to wield multiple Personas.
And apparently, a black suit.
"Come…LOKIIIIII!" Akechi screamed in rage as a large black and white striped figure appeared before them. His eyes full of malice and hatred, he pointed at the team, spouting "I will kill you...crush you...DESTROY YOU! Teammates are nothing but TRASH!"
"This is bad," Queen stated matter of factly, "he's more powerful than we anticipated."
"Indeed I am! And don't think you'll be able to use your pathetic proton pack power on me!" Akechi boasted.
"Actually…I have something else that can match your power." Joker said with full confidence.
"HA! Bring it on! Let me see what pathetic Persona you think can stop me."
A smile crept up on the face of Joker. Removing the mask from his face, he bellowed "Come forth…GOZER!"
"…wait, what the fu-"
A huge burst of light erupted from the ground. Before Akechi stood the one being no one without an unlicensed nuclear accelerator ever wants to face: Gozer The Gozerian, also known as Gozer the Traveller, Gozer the Destructor, Volgus Zildrohar, Lord of the Sebouillia and, to one other guy, Flat Top.
Basically speaking: if your name is not Venkman, Stanz, Spengler, Zeddmore or Tiamat, facing off against Gozer is a BAD IDEA.
A REAL BAD IDEA.
"YOU THINK THAT WEAK KNOCK OFF CRAP CAN ACTUALLY WORK AGAINST ME?!" Akechi foolishly screamed.
Like I said, he was not exactly stable.
"Ohhh. I like where this is going." Oracle smiled.
"Are you…a GOD?" the voice of Gozer demanded to know.
Confident in his power, Akechi sneered. "No."
"Wrong answer, Pancake Lad." Noir smiled. She knew what was coming. Her only regret was not having any popcorn to enjoy it.
"Then…DIIIIEEEEE!"
Seconds later, Akechi would regret the choice he made. Along with every choice he ever made that led to what followed next: Gozer raised its arms and a large, brutal and unyielding series of energy blasts came forth and slammed into both Akechi and Loki, sending them flying through the air. The steel walls of the boiler room abruptly cut their trip short. The team winced as Akechi groaned in pain, now embedded in the walls high above them. (The fact that the damage was Bless damage is even worse, as everyone knows that Akechi is susceptible to that element.)
"I may have been mistaken…"
"Dude…always say 'yes' to that question." Ryuji chided him.