Chapter 8: The Graceful Dancer

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

"Skull, switch!" He and Skull swapped places, so he faced a plant-like humanoid with leaves on its head named Mandrake while Skull faced another Bicorn. "Jack-o'-Lantern, ravage them! Agi!" He summoned one of the floating pumpkin creatures he had first fought with Arsène, commanding it to use a fire spell.

"Hee-Ho!" It giggled and waved its lantern, causing a fireball to shoot out and throw the Mandrake to the ground. Behind him, Skull let out a roar and kicked away the Bicorn, before ripping off his mask.

"Whip 'em, Captain Kidd! Zio!" Kidd let out a deep laugh and pointed his cannon forward, unleashing a thunderbolt that sent the Bicorn to its knees, before Mona unleashed a Garu to knock down the last Jack-o'-Lantern.

"Joker, they're all knocked down and open!"

"All-Out Attack!" The team jumped into action at his command, beginning to obliterate the Shadows in one fell swoop.

"Time for some bloodshed!" Mona cheered as he cut through them, Skull and himself right by his side. The cat-creature finished them off, landing on the ground and grinning smugly as he pulled a cigar from his belt pouch. "Mission Accomplished!"

"Is it okay for a cat to smoke?" Skull murmured to him, causing Jack-o'-Lantern to giggle as it waved its lantern and floated around their heads.

He just shrugged as he returned the pumpkin Persona to his mask, and once the Shadows finished disintegrating, spun his dagger and sheathed it. He nodded at their destination, a Safe Room they'd spotted before the fighting had started. "Let's get inside."

Inside the distorted room, or really the room with the least distortion, he sat down on the table, removing his mask but not summoning any Persona so he could rub at his nose. "There have been way more Shadows up here than in the dungeons…"

"Yeah, I was about to ask about that," Skull scratched his head. "Wouldn't they want more guards down with the prisoners or whatever? I mean, getting this far has been a real pain!"

"It's all because you guys provoked Kamoshida, you know. But still… he does seem awfully on guard…"

"Anyway, how're we supposed to steal that Treasure thing?"

Mona scoffed and crossed his stubby arms. "Don't be so hasty. First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route."

"A… what?"

"A path to the treasure," he explained to Skull, spinning his mask. "After all, we need a safe getaway route after we grab it… and if we can't accomplish this in one day, we'll need a fast route to where we left off."

"Oh, I get it!"

"Joker is correct. And besides that… Doing this as a three-man group… we may need some more manpower. Even one more person would be helpful… otherwise, we'll have to be much more careful."

Skull suddenly perked up. "Hey, you said you don't have any memories or whatever, but somehow you still know all this stuff?" He leaned towards him and away from Mona, whispering out the side of his mouth. "You really think this thing's got amnesia?"

He just laughed and shrugged. "It is a tad suspicious… But I believe in Mona."

"I'm not sure how to feel about that," Mona muttered, looking away and causing him to chuckle.

"Hey man, you sure talk big, but what if it turns out that you're just a stray cat in the end?"

Mona shook his head. "That can't be…"

Before he could comfort Mona, they all paused as they heard guards talking outside the room. "...y was the princess in such an odd place?"

"Princess?" Skull asked.

"The Cognitive Doll?" He furrowed his brow as he threw out an assumption, leaning against the door. "She had a tiara, remember?"

The guards outside continued speaking with each other, "I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…"

"It doesn't matter now. We must take her to King Kamoshida," another answered.

"So they're talking about the doll Takamaki?" Skull questioned

"I should probably look into this," Mona murmured as he snuck out of the room.

"And there he goes, with yet another question unanswered." Skull groaned and leaned against the room's table. "Y'know, this whole place is mysterious and all, but Morgana's got 'em both beat."

"I think you mean Mona, Skull," he reminded with a cheeky smirk.

"O-Oh, right! Sorry, still getting used to code names…"

"You can forget mine if you want, I still think it's lame. However, we do live in a society."

"What?"

He didn't have time to educate Skull on his reference as Mona came barging back in, a panicked look on his face. "This is bad!"

He narrowed his eyes and stood straight, "What's wrong?"

"I-It's your friend, Lady Ann! She's been taken by Shadows!"

"What?! We sent her home! She didn't follow you back in, did she?!"

"No, I made sure she wasn't brought back in when I returned. How could she have gotten back?!" He suddenly remembered one of his talks with Igor in the Velvet Room, and how he spoke of 'granting others who would be beneficial to him the Metaverse Navigator.' "Do you think she got the app…?"

"If Lady Ann does indeed have the app, perhaps the Castle was in its history, allowing her entrance even without the search terms…"

"So, it got put onto her phone just like mine?!" Skull growled and jumped off the table, grabbing his head in frustration. "Damnit! We got her out for her own safety, and she just came back in by herself!"

"We have to get her out of here," he barked, slipping his mask back on. They ran out of the Safe Room, finding several guards that looked surprised at their appearance. "I'll reveal your true forms!" Jumping forward to rip off their masks, they turned into blobs of ooze that transformed into various Shadows. Summoning his Mandrake, he removed his mask with wisps of cerulean flame. "Mandrake, ravage them!"

The plant-humanoid appeared before him and smirked. "Come on, let's get it on, then!"

Hmph! She's annoying, right, Mister Joker?

Me could say same about you, Pixie.

Could everyone please be silent?

Ignoring the voices in his head, both he and Mandrake dodged away from a Pixie's Zio, before he commanded Mandrake to use Pulinpa. Yellow streams of light flew through the air and impacted with an enemy Bicorn, causing it to become confused and stumble around. A Jack-o'-Lantern blasted an Agi at him, and he grunted as he was burned by the attack.

Skull jumped into the fray, roaring as he bashed aside the Jack-o'-Lantern. "Joker, you doin' alright?"

"Ah, yeah, just give me a second…" He was still stunned slightly, lying on the ground. He had quickly discovered the downside to his ability to hold multiple Personas soon after gaining Bicorn. Whichever Persona he had equipped, he gained their immunities, resistances, and weaknesses. Mandrake resisted electricity but was weak to fire, meaning he too was now weak to fire. However, if he had switched to Arsène he would have been neutral to the flames and resisted curse and psy, but he'd be weak to ice and holy, while if he had changed to Jack-o'-Lantern he would have absorbed the fire, but been weak to wind, ice, and projectiles. If he was going to use his powers to the best of his abilities, he'd need to memorize all his Personas' affinities.

He felt a wave of energy flow over him, and his burn wounds quickly healed, just slightly faster than his outfit mending. Mona smirked as he jumped past, Zorro giving a quick salute as it used a Dia on him. "You'd better thank me for this later, Joker!"

"I'll buy you some tuna," he grinned back.

"Mrow! Now that- hey!" Snickering at Mona's reaction, he pushed off the ground and did a backflip onto his feet, switching to Bicorn within his mind.

"Alright, let's go!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Ann•

"Hey!" She screamed as loudly as she could, straining at the restraints that held her to the X-shaped holding device, trying to call for anyone that would listen. "Will someone let me out?!"

Honestly, everything went wrong within the first minute of reentering the odd world. After the disorientation and shock of realizing she was able to make it back, she made her way across the drawbridge into the courtyard of the castle. She'd hoped that Starr-San and the others hadn't gotten too far ahead and that she would be able to catch up to them. However, her plans were quickly trashed as several guards ran up exclaiming how she was their 'princess' or something, before dragging her away.

And now here she was, strung up and held captive, with no way out. She struggled again, pulling hard at her restraints with no luck. "Hey?! Is anyone listening?!" The room she was in was disturbing, dozens of devices like the one holding her captive lined the room, several blatantly for torture, others for more sexual purposes. Although, considering Kamoshida, she was willing to bet the sick bastard probably got off to torture as well. Across the room from her and completely ignoring her yells were what looked like faceless human girls, giggling and pawing at each other like animals rutting, not even caring for the girl held against her will.

"Let me out!" She tried again, screaming and struggling.

No answer.

"I-I'm gonna call the police!" It was a lie of course. How would she even reach her phone while draped up as she was? It was mostly just an attempt to make her feel like she had some form of control over the situation. Starr-San had been right, hadn't he? She was an idiot… He told her about the dangers that they were going to face, and she just… decided that she would be fine, and the moment she realized she had some new app out of nowhere, and it could bring it back to the world they'd snuck into, she threw caution to the wind and jumped straight in.

Would she be able to survive this? Could she? The only chance she had was if Starr-San and Sakamoto-San found her, and who knows if they even knew about her predicament?

"So this is the intruder…" Her eyes widened and shot towards the source of the words. They had a wavering and ghostly undertone to them, but the slime and lust in them was still audible… Actually, it was even more audible than it was in the real world. And there he was, the muscular moron himself, draped in a red cloak with pink hearts dotted all along it, and his only other pieces of clothing being brown slippers, tight pink underpants, and a tacky golden crown. His now sickly golden eyes leered at her, and she internally winced at what she saw within them.

Out from behind him stepped a new person, and she realized they looked identical to her and was half-naked, dressed only in a pink two-piece bikini and high heels, plus a tiara with cat ears attached to it. The copy of her draped herself over Kamoshida, and she narrowed her eyes and gagged at the sight.

"Kamoshida," she spat, "and who the hell is that?!" Several knights followed them into the room, two of them standing on either side of the thing she was bound to.

"I can't believe you mistook my Ann for someone like her." Kamoshida chuckled and shook his head, mocking her, and she fumed as she strained against the bindings, only for one of the guards to lay the edge of their blade against her throat. She stilled and looked down with wide eyes, causing Kamoshida's chuckles to turn into outright laughter, before he lowered his voice to whisper, "are you afraid?"

She tried to force down her fear by glaring at the false king, "What's with that outfit, pervert? Have you lost your mind? Pink really doesn't suit you!"

Kamoshida just seemed amused by her words, spreading his arms to encompass the entirety of the castle. "I do as I please here! After all, this is my castle, my world! My world of desires." Her mind flashed back to Starr-San's words. An entirely new world. One that represented Kamoshida's twisted, sick mind, how he was loved and revered by all of the adults around him, while all of the students were crushed beneath him as slaves or used as dolls. Everyone would do anything he wished, trying their utmost to please him… hatred managed to overpower her fear for a moment, but not long.

"O-Of course your mind would be just like a disgusting red-light district," she spat as she tried to hide her fear.

"Aww, what a lively slave!" Kamoshida leaned forward and cooed at her, mocking her. "And so observant as well! But I think there may just be a bit too much thought going on in that pretty little head of yours!"

"This isn't funny!" She shouted back at the man, glaring. "And I am not your slave!"

"Well well, the girl's decided to tell me off…what do you think of that?" He turned with a grin towards the copy of her, though she knew he was just stalling, playing and toying with her. He probably knew exactly what he wanted to do with her the moment he'd been told about her capture. Fake Ann just giggled like an airhead, wiggling in place with her arms swinging back and forth, and nodding along at Kamoshida's words like the ditzy bimbo that Kamoshida saw her as.

"Talking back is, like… totally unforgivable." She felt anger surge out again and she absentmindedly hated how her emotions were just pushing back and forth inside her, fighting between anger and fear, rage and terror, but she couldn't help it. Everything about the situation was horrifying, yet everything also pushed her temper to new heights.

"Well, in that case… she should be executed!" She thought she gasped, but she couldn't tell as her heart clenched and her skin went pale. Her eyes widened and snapped to Kamoshida, but he was just chortling to himself. This was sickening… she was going to die here, just like this? She… "Now then, how should I play with you? Shall I tear you into tiny little pieces…?"

She shuddered, dread creeping up the back of her spine as the false king got closer, and she blurted out the first thing she could think of. "Starr-San and Sakamoto-San will stop you!"

Kamoshida stopped, but he just laughed. "Please, those two? They have no chance of stopping me."

She thought back to when Starr-San consoled her after taking her out of the palace. He might've been bluffing, but she needed a good bluff right now. "S-Starr-San told me. He and Sakamoto-San defeated your guards easily! If you think they aren't on their way, and won't beat you down as easily as stepping on a bug-"

Kamoshida was suddenly in her face, roaring and sending spit flying. "THEY ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!" He huffed and stepped back, flicking his cloak. "I am a King, while they are just petty Thieves, useless nobodies!"

"T-Then why are you so scared of them?" There was a waver in her voice, but she managed to put a mocking bite in the rest of her sentence.

"You…"

There was a sudden crashing noise as a large black horse crashed through the doors of the room, the horns on its head having been used like battering rams. Riding atop it back was Starr-San, his gaze completely ignoring Kamoshida as if he was beneath his notice, and instead on her. His clothes may have been more similar to a thieves attire rather than a warrior's, but at that moment, he was a knight in shining armor to her.

Behind him, another guard was kicked into the room, the power of the kick launching them into the opposite wall, and out walked Sakamoto-San. Though he may not have been riding a horse like Starr-san, he looked just as much like a hero. The faux-blond's eyes landed on Kamoshida and he snarled, gripping a baseball bat with chains wrapped around it hard.

Starr-San jumped down from the horse as the creature vanished into blue flames and turned into his mask. He grabbed a dagger in his right hand and a gun in his left, pointing the ranged weapon at Kamoshida and supporting it with his right arm as several guards moved between them. "Get the hell away from her, you scumbag," he hissed.

Morgana followed and pulled a saber from nowhere, while Sakamoto-San pointed his bat at them. "Takamaki, we'll eff this guy up, don't worry!" Kamoshida glared at Sakamoto-San and Starr-San for their outbursts, Fake Ann still watching without a care in the world.

"And just like cockroaches, you keep coming back…" Kamoshida spat and backed away, huffing. "You know, I was just starting to enjoy myself!"

"Oh, I'm sorry to have intruded, your highness!" Starr-San gave a mocking bow but kept his eyes up and weapons ready. "In fact, why not just let the lass go, and us worthless peasants will get out of your hair. We'll let you get back to your little pervy fantasies, without us."

"You just don't know when to quit," Kamoshida sneered.

Sakamoto-San growled and stomped forward as he swung his bat threateningly. "Listen up asshole, if you don't want us to kick your ass all the way to-"

He was cut off as Kamoshida motioned at one of the guards, and they placed their sword at her throat. She looked down with wide eyes, and Sakamoto-San cursed as he backed away. "Now now, I'm sure you wouldn't want this precious girl's body to be stained red, do you?"

"Hey, she's wearing red already, isn't she?" Starr-San's voice was light, but his eyes were dark, a burning hatred that seemed ready to combust. His hand wavered, the barrel of his gun flicking between Kamoshida and the guard who'd placed his sword against her neck.

"I-If you kill me, you know there's nothing stopping them from beating your head in!" She licked her lips nervously, sweat dripping down her face as the blade dug into her neck slightly.

"Oh, no, who said I would be killing you?" Kamoshida's smile turned depraved, and she felt her stomach drop. "You know, I bet you're just like those thieves… you came because you're pissed at me, huh? But, ah… I forget that chick's name, but it's your fault she jumped you know."

She stared at him. She shouldn't have been surprised at how callous and unconcerned he sounded, but she somehow still was. "You… What you did to Shiho was-"

"After all, you were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her take your place." Kamoshida shrugged. "If you had just done what I said, maybe your friend wouldn't have suffered like she did."

"You BASTARD!" She struggled against the restraints, only to gasp as the sword against her throat pressed in, and a drop of blood ran down the blade. Kamoshida began laughing at the terror on her face, while Sakamoto-San took a step forward.

"Hey, stop!" The guards stepped in front of the boy and he growled as Kamoshida taunted him.

"Go ahead and try something. The moment you do, she loses her life."

She saw Starr-San raise his gun, pointing it directly at Kamoshida's head. Whereas before it was to try and intimidate Kamoshida, she could see it in his eyes. He was preparing himself to pull the trigger. Sakamoto-San grabbing his arm was the only reason he didn't fire his weapon yet, his friend trying to keep him from becoming a murderer. "We have to be able to do something besides kill the bastard! We're doing this even though it could kill him, not actively trying to kill him!" She just stared, all her tightly wound emotions collapsing. It was too much… He had the resolve to kill a man just to save her, and all she could do was watch. She'd failed Shiho, and she'd failed herself.

Kamoshida was focusing fully on her now, an approving grin forming. "There, isn't that easier? Now, why don't the rest of you sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show?" Silent tears fell, she was too weary from everything that… well, just nothing. She no longer had the strength to fight back. Shiho, I'm sorry I couldn't do anything… Starr-San, Sakamoto-san, sorry for making you waste your time on me… "Now then, how should we begin? Maybe I'll start with her clothes…"

Princess Ann giggled approvingly, "You're such a perv~!" Her deadened spirit couldn't fall any further, and the helpless yet enraged gazes of the boys couldn't bring any hope to her, no matter how much retribution the black and red-clad boy's eyes promised Kamoshida was in for. She gave in and slumped forward, not even noticing the blade still cutting into her throat. Kamoshida was saying something, but she didn't have the energy to focus on him.

"This is my punishment, isn't it…" She sighed and closed her eyes, murmuring to herself. "My punishment for what happened to Shiho…" Shiho had suffered because she'd refused Kamoshida. If she had just given herself over to him… Shiho wouldn't be comatose and in danger of dying, but she had let her pride and terror overwhelm her entirely and lead to everything happening now… She would die, and there was nothing she could do. "Shiho… I'm so sorry…"

"Hey, Takamaki-San, I don't mean to interrupt, but are you just going to listen to this piece of human garbage?" Her eyes drifted upwards to see Starr-San glaring towards her, not with anger but resolution. The resolution she didn't have. "You asked me how we got our powers, didn't you? They're our rebellion, our strength of will. The power to overcome any obstacle or just plow through them."

Kamoshida seemed content to let Starr-San talk, probably thinking he was blustering about nothing. But the boy paid him no mind, focusing on her. She looked back with widening eyes as he smiled, light dancing in his silver eyes. "Don't you want justice for Shiho? I thought you weren't a coward? If you aren't, you would keep fighting until your last breath. You would never give in. Kamoshida is a pathetic rapist who only holds power against those who don't fight back. Ryuji and I are where we are now because we stood back up and fought past our cowardice, and you can too."

"I'm… alone-"

"But you're not, damnit!" Starr-San took a step forward and the guards stiffened. "Ryuji, Morgana and I, we're all here, all fighting to take this fucker down, so are you going to just lie there like the doll he thinks you are, or are you going to fight? Well, Ann?! Which is it?!" He… If Kamoshida got away with this, he would eventually forget all about it, all about them, as if they were nothing. She had done this to protect Shiho and get revenge, but Kamoshida would just move on to the next victim, and the next, and the next… It wouldn't end. He would never face justice… Not unless she got up.

And fought.

"Yes, well, that's all very well and good, but if you'll excuse me, I think we've gone off schedule." His smarmy voice… it was really starting to piss her off!

"Joker, we have to do something," Sakamoto-San growled, but Starr-San never took his eyes from her. They were pushing her, fight on, they almost seemed to say.

"Don't worry. I think Takamaki-San's got it from here."

"In any case-"

She interrupted the mad king with a scoff. "What the hell was I thinking? Letting you toy with me like that…"

Kamoshida growled, realizing she'd regained a spark of rebellion. Just peachy. And he'd just beaten it out of her, too! "You should realize your position is hopeless. Slaves should just behave and li-"

"Shut up." She felt emotions raging through her, no longer bound by the chains of fear and terror, but free and blazing through her. There was something else, too… something building up, and ready to snap.

"Listening to you ramble on and on like this…" she glared, and her eyes flashed from cyan to gold. "It's really beginning to piss me off."

"Are y—"

"SHUT UP!" She strained against the metal holding her arms and legs, the rage, the… rebellion burning like a wild inferno, ready to incinerate anything in her path. "What you did… what you think you can get away with… I'LL BURN YOU ALIVE FOR IT!"

It snapped.

My, it's taken far too long…

She gasped as agony coursed through her body, filling every last cell of her. In her mind, she could hear a woman's voice, sultry and commanding, but aside from her, the copy of her, and the fake volleyball girls, there were no women in the room who could have said that.

"What…?" She could hear Sakamoto-San question through the pain. "What the hell is… she's Awakening?!"

Kamoshida roared something before an explosion went off. Sakamoto-San, Morgana, and Starr-San had closed in and were circling her defensively, fighting off monsters, but she couldn't focus on that, the pain escalating and piercing her skull.

Tell me, who is going to avenge her if you don't?

She thrashed against the metal contraption, the tears that were once silent and lonesome rushing down her cheeks and mixing with drool that dropped from her lips.

Forgiving him was never an option… such is the scream of the other you that dwells within…

But the voice… it was right. It was like a beacon in the midst of the fog, calling through the pain. She grasped for it, trying to find an end to the horrible suffering that afflicted her entire body.

I am Thou, Thou art I… We can finally forge a contract.

She slumped forward as the pain finally fled her body, and with a flash of blue flame, a red panther mask was upon her face and her eyes were fully gold. "I hear you, Carmen…" She looked up and narrowed her eyes. "You're right! No more holding back!" Kamoshida snarled and stepped back as his guards were prevented from killing her before she could Awaken, and she felt strength flow through her, the same strength that Starr-san and Sakamoto-san had once wielded.

There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself.

The iron shackles, just as the stone beneath the boys had shattered when they awakened, snapped easily, blue flames wrapping around her wrists as she stumbled forward, finally free, and reached up to rip off the mask. It tore at her flesh, blood seeping out as she pulled, before with one final tear the red liquid splashed forward and a pillar of cerulean fire exploded from her, Carmen's laughter echoing through her ears.

Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength.

"Damnit," Kamoshida cursed upon seeing the third Awakening to occur within his Palace.

Starr-San just smirked and stabbed a guard in the throat, throwing him into another. "If I were you I might just start running, you coward!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Mrow!"

The fire around her was comforting, and she felt Carmen's strength flowing through her, whispering sweetly. It asked of her to never hold back again. Every adult who turned a blind eye or abused their power would no longer be ignored, no, with the power she now wielded she could fight and burn away their lies.

The first thing that appeared through the fire was Carmen herself. She was a tall woman, dressed extravagantly in a red, pink and black dress that looked very similar to a rose, while stood atop the back of a shadow puppet-like man adorned in a suit and with a helmet shaped like a heart. Another floated alongside her, and they were both bound to her by vine-like leashes. Her dress turned into a corset at her waist, open in the middle to reveal the Persona's large cleavage. Her face was hidden beneath a panther mask like her own, except for the golden eyes peering out. Even her hair was done up in twintails like her owner, albeit black as night and looking like corkscrews, while a cigar hung from the corner of her mouth.

Carmen smirked and blew out a puff of smoke from her cigarette, while the men she held on leashes looked at her with unmatched admiration and love. "I am the Graceful Dancer herself— 'Carmen!'"

The fire died down to reveal her own outfit, and though she didn't take any notice of it, too focused on Kamoshida's sweating form, the two boys and one cat certainly did. It was a very tight latex catsuit with a prominent cleavage window and even a swishing cat's tail, with several zippers running down her breasts, stomach, under her crotch, and down her legs. On her hands were pink gloves, while covering her feet were a pair of sharp high-heel boots, going up to her thighs. On her hip was what looked to be a long whip, ready to snap, and Akira and Ryuji looked at each other before swallowing.

"She, uh… kind of looks like a dominatrix…"

"Yeah, I'll uh, I'll just stay over here…"

The description certainly fit. She would no longer allow any man to just walk all over her and control her life. She was back behind the wheel, and she was ready to take revenge. As the guards stared up at her Persona, she took the opportunity to run forward and disarm one with a swift kick to the sword. As it was thrown high into the air, she used the guard as a springboard and leaped up with agility she was sure she didn't have before, grabbing the handle and slicing down.

Kamoshida winced, but he wasn't her target. No, he didn't deserve a swift death. Her target had been her doppelganger, the sword slicing from head to crotch and turning the doll into ash before she even hit the floor. She slowly got up, glaring at the panicking teacher. "You know what? I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag."

"B-Bitch!" Kamoshida scowled and let his guards step forward to defend him, but she simply strode forward with the other Persona users behind her. He thought he was safe in his castle, but she would squash those assumptions easily. "Kill them all!"

"You stole everything from Shiho…you destroyed her… and now it's your turn." She pointed forward, and flames erupted from Carmen, though this time instead of cerulean they were burning red and yellow. "I WILL ROB YOU OF EVERYTHING!"

The guards in front of him transformed into monsters to try and protect their king, the lead one becoming a bearded demon that growled down at her. "How dare you! Enough of your insolence!"

"No, I've had enough of you." She clenched her fists and grasped her whip, cracking it like an expert. "No ones gonna stop me now!" She crouched down like a cat, a wild, insane grin growing as the feeling of rebellion filled her. "Let's go, Carmen!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

He smirked as Takamaki-San unleashed what felt like a wave of fire from hell itself, throwing back the Shadows around her. Now this was more like it… time to kick Kamoshida's face in!

Master, this seems like job for Arsène!

Aw, but I wanted a turn fighting…

Indeed it is! Let us show them what true destruction is!

He grinned at Arsène's voice and mentally switched between Bicorn and his main Persona, before summoning the demonic thief. Captain Kidd appeared alongside him, with Zorro following. "Skull, Mona, I want you taking down the weaklings, I'll help Takamaki-San take down the big one!"

"Got it! Come on Monamona, let's show 'em how it's done!"

"Don't call me that, Numbskull!" The two broke off with a mix of thunder and sharp wind. The demon attempted to attack Skull with a blast of its own wind, but Arsène blocked it with his body. Before it could attack again, Carmen threw the demon back with a fireball, causing it to grunt and glare at them.

"Begone with you, thieves!" It attempted to attack them with another blast of wind, and he quickly dodged with a roll, while Takamaki-San did a flip. When they were both back on their feet they charged forward, and he started the attack with a hail of bullets, causing the demon to flinch back. While it was on the figurative back foot, he grabbed Takamaki's whip and launched her up, where she spun and cracked the demon across the face with her weapon, causing it to stop levitating and fall to the floor.

A pillar of fire roasted it from below, and it screeched before Arsène stabbed down at it, having launched himself from the air and using his knife-like heels as daggers. His foot sank into the demon's throat before he kicked it towards them and hit it with an Eiha. While it was still in the air, he smirked and summoned up energy from inside him, causing light to glow along his arms. "Rebellion α!"

The demon was ravaged by the attack and skid across the floor, laying before them. He attempted to get back up, but another pillar of fire courtesy of Carmen prevented that. "Good thing this one was weak to fire." He smirked. It glared up at him, and he switched Personas, summoning Jack-o'-Lantern.

"Hee, let's burn them up, ho!" Jack-o'-Lantern's lantern unleashed several flames, and though they were weaker than Carmen's, they easily finished the job and turned the demon to ash, which then melted down into a dark ooze. He nodded and looked to see Skull and Mona finishing the other Shadows while still bickering between themselves.

He turned to Takamaki-San to see her huffing, the strain of Awakening starting to take its toll on her. He smiled and grabbed her shoulder, "Nicely done. Personas are a hell of a drug, aren't they?"

She smiled back, and Carmen reverted into her red mask. "Thanks… Now, where did that slimy asshole go?" Both their eyes drifted to the cowardly king, who was against a wall and sweating.

"Oh shit!" Kamoshida scrambled towards the door, and he and Takamaki-San gave chase.

"Rebellion α!" The blast of energy crashed into the stone wall by the door and exploded, barely missing Kamoshida's escaping form. He growled under his breath, the odd power not quite as instinctual as Arsène or his other Personas, though he did note that its explosion radius didn't seem to be as strong as it had been in the real world. "Jack-o'-Lantern! Stop him!"

"Hee won't get away, ho!" Jack-o'-Lantern prepared more fire, but a Mandrake jumping in their way to save its king prevented the attack from landing, and the flames instead burned away the Shadow. They continued to chase him, but they didn't get far, as his female companion fell to her knees with a cry of exhaustion.

"Wait…!" Takamaki-San winced and he immediately halted, turning to check on her.

"Hey, are you alright?" He knelt and saw a small slash on her arm, hidden by the blood leaking from it. The catsuit was beginning to repair itself like his and Skull's gear did, but her flesh wasn't. He swapped Jack-o'-Lantern with Pixie, unmasking and calling her out to cast Dia on her wound. Mona and Skull approached, with Skull scratching his head.

"Hey, so why'd you come back here?! And how the hell did you?!"

Mona immediately snapped at the boy, "Hey, is that any way to speak to a Lady?!" He turned to Takamaki-San and attempted to soothe the girl. "Are you alright, Lady Ann?"

"Lady Ann…?" She looked at the cat and quirked an eyebrow, before realizing who she was talking to. "Wait, what even are you? Are you alive? How can you even talk?"

Mona scrambled to answer her questions, waving his paws. "J-Just calm down, everything's going to be okay; don't worry."

Takamaki-San got up by using Mona's large head, pushing most of her weight onto him, causing him to almost overbalance while she glared down at him. "How am I supposed to calm down?!" When she fully stood, she seemed to finally realize she was wearing something other than her school uniform, that being the very revealing costume. "H-Huh?! Why am I dressed like this?! When did I-?!" She hunkered down and squeezed her eyes shut, "Ugh, what is with this?!"

Mona tried to comfort her while Skull just groaned, and he rubbed his chin. The girl looked pretty down, so he tried to think of a joke to lighten the mood. He looked at her whip and dominatrix-esque outfit and smirked. "Step on me, madam."

"WHAT?!"

"What?" Skull began choking on his saliva, first at what he had said, then at how calmly he had replied to the girl's scream, before bursting out into laughter. Mona just shook his head in exasperation, probably at what the cat thought of as 'vulgar jokes in front of a Lady,' and he just grinned down at the girl.

She tried to keep the look of anger on her face, but the sheer audacity of what he'd said cracked her emotional mask, and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards as she tried to not laugh at how boldly he'd spoken. "Don't… don't say that again."

"Of course, of course." He chuckled and offered her his hand, helping her to her feet. She stumbled from dizziness, and Skull helped by grabbing her other arm. "Come on, let's go. Kamoshida probably sent a bunch of guards this way."

"Ugh, just when we were getting fired up…" Skull groaned and shook his head. "She just had to get in the way…"

"Hey, at least we got to see her Persona." He snickered. "Now that was a sight to see."

"Ugh, can you please not describe it like that?" Takamaki-San blushed and shook her head, while he just laughed. They made their way back to the entrance as quickly as they could, and when the guards finally arrived, all they found was a scorched, empty room.

I love writing Akira as a sassy and cocky little showoff in the Metaverse, and then a sarcastic and smart but reserved teenager in the real world. Gives a real contrast to his character that I think they were going for in the game too. You see him smirk at the ends of battles, do flips and dives, and just be theatrical as all hell in the metaverse. Just look at the Down Special animation where he jumps around like a madman when shooting all them bullets lol. Then you look at his interactions in the real world where he doesn't smirk at all, wears glasses to hide his glare, and sticks to the dress code, unlike previous protagonists who change their outfits, like the P4 protag wearing his jacket open and the P3 protag wearing his headphones.

While every Persona protagonist has been blank slates to let the player insert themselves and come up with their personalities, I feel like Joker has the most hints of a character, as I've said. Also, I love Morgana's All-Out Attack animation. Like, where does the chair come from? Where does the cigar come from? His little pack? Does Morgana smoke? Same goes for Noir's, where does the table and teacup come from? I mean, she's stylish, but what? So weird...

Either way, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!