Chapter 2: Burning Vengeance

While Ren made a beeline for the faculty office before class started, Ryuji had a different objective in mind. He needed to find Ann and make sure she was okay.

He had to admit, he was spooked by what the Kamoshida in that other world had said about her. He and Ren had found out pretty quickly that the real Kamoshida had no knowledge of what happened there when they had turned a corner and nearly ran into him. Outside of a snide comment to Ren about how he should pick his friends better, the meeting passed without incident.

"Hey, Tamamaki!"

Ann turned to see Ryuji, and her shoulders visibly sagged in relief. "Oh, hey Ryuji. What's up?"

Ryuji may not have been a smart guy, but even he could pick up on the disconnect between her words and body language. "Are you okay? I saw you get in the car with Kamoshida..."

Ann glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "I'm fine. For now. But if I keep refusing him..."

"He's going to come down on Shiho?"

Ann blinked. "When did you get so perceptive?"

Ryuji didn't actually know. Was this a side effect of having a Persona? "Hey, for all you know, I've always been like this!"

"No. No you have not." Ann broke out into a laugh that lasted a good couple of minutes. "God, I needed that." She hung her head, "What am I gonna do, Ryuji? If I don't sleep with him, he's going to take Shiho off the starting team."

"That's not worth your dignity, Ann." Ryuji said, surprising even himself, "So what if Shiho doesn't start anymore? She's still the star of the girl's volleyball team! The colleges will see that when they come around!"

"Not if he doesn't let her play." Ann said dejectedly.

Ryuji groaned. He did not have time to smash through a hundred layers of this spiral into despair. "Look, the way I see it, you've got two options." Ann raised her head to look at him. "Option one: prove everyone right about you, that you're Kamoshida's plaything."

A flash of anger crossed her face. "I AM NOT-"

Ryuji stood his ground. "Then stand up to him. Tell him to go screw himself. Be the Ann Tamamaki I know, rather than the one that everyone thinks they see." He began to walk off. Depending on what Morgana told them, he decided that he was going to ask if Ann could join them. Because if that other world provided them a way to take down Kamoshida...

It would be cruel to leave Ann out of it. She deserved to pay back Kamoshida just as much as he did.

The school day was a trial, to say the least. The classes were fine, in fact they were a little easier than Ren was used to. He supposed the more stringent curriculum at Gekkoukan had been because the school was funded by the Kirijo group.

No, the issue was the rumors.

Someone had told everyone about him and heavily exaggerated his crimes. That wasn't even beginning to mention the wilder things they said. That he had a knife on him? That he was involved in... elephant tusk trafficking?

The one that annoyed him the most was that he drank and smoked. His birth mother had died because of a drunk driver and he had sworn long ago that if -and that was a very big if- he ever partook in alcohol, he would be responsible about it.

Even with no way to prove it, he was at least eighty-two percent certain that it was because of Kamoshida. The only thing he could do now was endure it.

"AMAMIYA!"

Ren directed his attention back to the teacher, Ushimaru. Ryuji had told him that the man had a reputation for being a hard-ass, but-

He grabbed a piece of chalk. "In my class..."

He isn't really going to throw that at me, is he?

"... You pay attention to me!" He reared back and threw the chalk.

Oh.

He tilted his head to the side, just enough for the chalk to barely miss. It shattered against the back wall of the classroom.

"How did he manage that?"

"The fabled Divine Dodge!"

Ushimaru grumbled and went back to teaching. Fortunately, that was the last class of the day. He spotted Ryuji in the courtyard and headed over to him. "Hey."

"Hey, man." Ryuji said. He popped the lid on a soda and took a drink. "So, when do you think Morgana will-"

"Right now."

"Geez!" Ryuji practically jumped out of his skin. "Why'd you have to sneak up on me like that?" Morgana still looked like a cat, unfortunately.

"Force of habit. So, I'm sure both of you want an explanation-"

"Amamiya-kun, cats aren't allowed on school grounds."

They all turned in unison to see Kawakami, her arms folded and expression stern. Ryuji glanced at Ren. How were they going to talk their way out of this one?

"He's my emotional support cat." Ren said with utmost sincerity.

"For real?" Ryuji muttered under his breath.

Kawakami stared at him for a solid five seconds before stifling a yawn. "You know what? I'll believe you. You showed up on time today, were well behaved- that's certainly more than I expected from someone in your position." She started walking, "Come on, we'll get started on the paperwork in the faculty office."

Ryuji shrugged, although his facial expression was somewhere between disbelief and amazement. Morgana hopped in Ren's bag as he scooped it up. "Nice work, I thought we were done for." Morgana said.

After they rounded a corner, Ren saw a pink flyer fall out of Kawakami's notebook. He bent down and swiped it up. "Uh, Kawakami-sensei? You dropped... uh..." He looked at the flyer. Ryuji looked at the flyer. They could both see it was an ad from a maid service. One of the spicy ones.

Kawakami turned around and went pale.

Somehow, Ryuji was the first to find his voice. "You're that hard-up for cash that you have to moonlight for... uh... this?"

"It's not that simple..." She muttered.

"You know what? I'm done with today!" Ryuji declared. "It's been too weird already and I don't need more! Ren, give me your number and Chat ID! We'll get food tomorrow!" He ran off.

Kawakami sighed. "Typical Sakamoto. Just... get rid of that for me, would you?"

Ren took a closer look on it, "Is this number specifically to request you? It has your picture on it?"

Kawakami shot him a look, "You're not getting any funny ideas are you?"

Ren shook his head. "Just figured that I've never actually seen Sakura-san clean his restaurant at all."

She threw her hands up in the air. "You know what? Fine. You don't tell anyone but Sojiro about this, and I'll happily come by after hours to clean up the place. Deal?"

Ren nodded. "Deal."

As they continued to the faculty office, a voice echoed in Ren's head. Thou has acquired a new bond... with the birth of the Temperance Persona...

Well. That was a thing.

Ren returned to Leblanc to find Sojiro waiting for him. "You're late."

"Sorry." Ren apologized. "Had to wait for rush hour to die out since I was held up at school."

Sojiro glowered at him over his glasses. "You're in trouble already? Don't you understand what your situation is?"

"I understand that perfectly, Sakura-san." Ren explained. "I had to fill out some paperwork to get the school to accept the stray cat that followed me there as my emotional support animal companion."

Morgana picked this opportunity to pop his head out of Ren's bag. "Meow." Ren had to keep himself from laughing, as he simply heard the cat say meow as opposed to actually meowing.

Sojiro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kid, this is a restaurant! Animals are a strict no!" He looked at Morgana again before sighing, "You said the school accepted him as an emotional support whatever?" At Ren's nod he relented. "Fine. As long as he stays with you, I'm not going to argue. It's not worth my time." He placed a set of keys down on the bar. "My spare set of keys for the café. I've got better things to do than wait for you to come home every night. Just don't trash the place or let it get trashed. If you do, I'm tossing you out of here."

Ren threw a mock salute. "Understood, Boss."

Sojiro paused at the door. "Huh. Boss. I could get used to that."

After he locked up, Ren walked up to the attic. Morgana blanched. "This is where you stay? An attic above a restaurant?"

Ren shrugged as he threw the coat of his school uniform on the sofa he had cleaned off. "Probation is a hell of a drug. I wasn't given any sort of choice."

Morgana tilted his head, and his ears swiveled forward. "What's the story, then?"

Ren smiled weakly, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Hah! Well played." Morgana said, "Although... I can't tell you much of anything. I don't actually remember anything except running around that castle until I found you guys. I think I'm supposed to be human? I've gotta be. How else could I use a Persona?" He stood up and hopped over to where Ren sat on the bed. "Hey, I've got an idea. If you help me figure out my past, I'll train you on how to make infiltration tools."

Ren shot him a look. "Like what? Lockpicks and smoke bombs?"

"Among other things, yes."

Ren nodded. "Alright, you've got a deal." Once again, Ren heard a voice in his head. "Thou has acquired a new bond... with the birth of the Magician Persona..."

He was much too tired to ponder the implications. Instead, he briefly explained his situation to Morgana, then set his alarm and went to sleep.

The next day passed without incident. However, Ren started to notice things. Like how every single person on the volleyball team always seemed to have fresh injuries or bandages. Unfortunately, both him and Ryuji had drawn the short end of the stick when it came to reputation. Any attempts at questioning them had ended in a failure. That escalated into a critical failure when they had talked to Mishima -the only member of the volleyball team in Ren's class- and he had told them that there was no point in trying to prove physical abuse was happening. Their parents, the school... everyone knew. And everyone let Kamoshida do what he wanted.

So both Ren and Ryuji were in various stages of terrible moods. Not the ideal state of mind to have the metaphorical equivalent of an A-10 Warthog's armaments dropped on them, but there wasn't much that could be done.

They snuck up to the roof without anyone that mattered seeing. Ryuji grabbed one of the folding chairs and put his feet up on the desk. "Alright, Morgana, let's hear it. What the hell happened yesterday?"

Morgana hopped out of Ren's bag and onto the desk. "Okay, basics first. You guys somehow entered the Metaverse. The Metaverse is the collective unconscious of mankind. You with me so far?"

Ren nodded. Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Let's pretend I am."

Morgana looked at him and sighed. "Right. Now, you guys ended up in what's called a Palace. A Palace is formed when an evil person's desires distort the Metaverse around them. Those desires coalesce into a Treasure, which forms the core of the Palace."

"And Kamoshida's Castle is located at Shujin in the real world because he sees the school as his castle where he can do anything he wants." Ren said.

Ryuji started to nod. "Okay, that makes sense so far... I think. But our Personas, what are they?"

"Everyone has two sides to their self." Morgana explained, "The side that they show everyone else and their inner self. Awakening your Persona requires facing yourself in some way and accepting that inner self. For us, it's awakening the rebel in your soul."

"Is that why our clothes change?" Ryuji asked.

"Sort of. Your clothes changing in the Metaverse is a defense mechanism. It's a combination of your heart and Persona protecting you from any distortions in the Metaverse. The clothes also reveal what your cognition of a rebel is."

Ren tilted his head in curiosity. "Cognition? Is that shorthand for how we perceive things?"

Morgana bobbed his head up and down in an approximation of a nod. "Basically."

"Okay, can I ask something then?" He turned to Ren, "Why is your cognition of a rebel a freaking Featherman? Like, I'm not judging. Mine's apparently a skull-headed dude in a suit that carries a lead pipe and shotgun around. It's just kinda... out there."

Ren sat down in the other chair. "That's because I learned my sense of justice from my stepsister, I think."

"Who's your sister?" Morgana asked.

Ren braced himself. Ryuji was clearly a fan, even if he didn't broadcast it. "Yukari Takeba."

Ryuji's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "You're shitting me. Your stepsister... plays Pink Argus?"

"Yep." Ren said unashamedly. "We're getting off topic. Morgana, hypothetically speaking, what would happen if we stole Kamoshida's treasure?"

"Best case scenario? He confesses his own crimes. Robbed of distorted desires, the human heart will find the weight of his sins unbearable." Morgana's expression darkened before he continued, "But the worst case scenario is that he will undergo a mental shutdown. He'll die without constant care."

"Shit." Ryuji said. He ran a hand through his hair then got up. "This... I want him to fess up to all the stuff he's done, but I... I don't want to kill him."

Ren frowned. "I agree. Besides, if we do screw up and kill him... if it's traced back to me, I'm fucked." When Ryuji voiced his confusion he explained further, "I'm on probation for assault. If assault is keeping a man from forcing himself on a woman and him tripping and hurting himself."

"That's bullshit!" Ryuji said.

"This is the only way you guys will have to deal with Kamoshida with the school protecting him." Morgana said.

Ren pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'm sure there will be a breaking point where we decide the risk of killing Kamoshida is an acceptable or even negligible risk. But we're not there yet. What we can do now is prepare."

Ryuji groaned. "We've got that stupid volleyball rally tomorrow! Damn it!"

Ren nodded. "Yes. And my class is against the teacher team. Which means Kamoshida."

"Do you have a plan?" Morgana asked.

Ren made a wry half smile. "More like twelve percent of a plan. I'm going to do everything in my power to spike on Kamoshida."

"Dude, that's only going to make him mad." Ryuji said, "I approve."

Thou hast created a new bond... with the birth of the Chariot Persona...

Ren groaned mentally. Was that going to happen any time he made a friend from now on?

As expected the volleyball rally was a massacre.

"Stupid." Ryuji muttered. "This is just a one man show to stroke that bastard's ego."

"I have eyes, Ryuji." Ren deadpanned. Despite Ren's near lethal snark, he wasn't far off. The teacher team strategy boiled down to one step. Get the ball to Kamoshida.

The teachers were helpfully displaying that now. One of the teachers set Kamoshida up for a spike and the gym teacher showed no hesitation as he drove it home.

Right into Mishima's head.

"That was on purpose." Ryuji hissed under his breath, "And look, Kamoshida's just standing there all smug."

Ren took off his glasses and stashed them in his bag. "What are you doing?" Morgana asked.

Ryuji grinned. "Executing the operation."

Ren got up, ran towards Mishima, and helped him up. "You go rest, I'll take your spot."

"Amamiya... he'll just go for you!" Mishima said as he began to stumble off the court.

"I know." Ren said. "All according to plan." He took a breath and took Mishima's place. Kamoshida was staring him down. His expression was neutral, but he could see the truth in the man's eyes.

He was livid.

Ren grinned. Kamoshida had to be pissed that he had denied him the opportunity to be a manipulative prick and had put a target on his back with one action. Come on. A volleyball to the face is nothing compared to what I went through yesterday.

A teacher that Ren didn't recognize sent out the serve. As he expected, none of his classmates bothered to help him. That was fine. He could handle a little volleyball. He hit the ball back, right to Kamoshida.

Then he got ready.

Kamoshida didn't take the obvious bait, and gently returned the ball to Ren.

Ren shot a glare at Kamoshida. "It's showtime." His eyes snapped to the ball before he leapt up and slammed his hand down, sending the ball careening towards Kamoshida's face.

Taken aback by the vicious look that Ren had given him beforehand, Kamoshida looked up just in time for the ball to rearrange the side of his face.

"I guess you didn't see that coming." Ren said.

There was complete silence in the gym, save for the bouncing of the volleyball. Kamoshida's eye twitched. "The Volleyball Rally is over. Go home." He said in a loud and clear voice. "Amamiya, my office. Now."

Ren paled. The plan had worked too well. "Sure, just let me get my bag and-"

Kamoshida stormed to the other side of the court and loomed over him for a moment before presenting a forced smile. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure your best buddy Sakamoto can worry about that for you. We just need to have a little chat."

With no other option, Ren followed Kamoshida out of the gym.

Ryuji promptly started to meltdown. "Shit shit shit!" He grabbed Ren's bag -and Morgana, consequently- and started after them. "Oh, this is bad!"

"You think?" Morgana snarked. "We need to-"

"Ryuji!"

He whirled around to see Ann. "Ain't got the time right now! Kamoshida just marched Ren to his office cause he styled on the bastard during volleyball!"

"Who's Ren? Is that the transfer-"

"Yep!" Ryuji continued on his way. "He might be on probation or whatever, but he ain't sketchy. No time to talk, I gotta catch up to them!"

Ann grabbed his arm. "You of all people shouldn't egg on Kamoshida right now! He's in a bad mood!"

"No shit?" Ryuji asked, "You think I can't figure that-"

"I told him to go screw himself."

The puzzle pieces finally locked into place. Ryuji's stomach dropped as he realized that he had inadvertently created a perfect storm.

That Ren was stuck in the middle of.

"Alright, Amamiya, someone already violated my corn flakes this morning." Kamoshida said. "So I'm not in the mood for any teenage bullshit. We clear?"

Ren had to catch himself before he said clear as mud. He was not in a hurry to prove his stepmother right about his sense of humor being the end of him. "Crystal, Kamoshida-sensei."

Kamoshida glowered at him. "Oh, now that you're in trouble, you decide to act properly."

Ren tilted his head to the side in mock confusion. "Why am I in trouble? We were just playing volleyball?"

Kamoshida threw back his head and laughed. "Hilarious, kid. You're a regular joker, aren't you?"

"My dad says I should do stand-up comedy."

Kamoshida laid a hand on Ren's shoulder, setting off alarms in his head. Something was... off. "Let me explain how things work around here, Amamiya. The person that really calls the shots here on campus is me. The only one that needs to achieve results is me and my volleyball team. Do you follow so far?" At Ren's nod, he continued. "And do you know what you did today?"

Ren swallowed. There wasn't any good answer here. "I took Mishima's place after he got hurt?" There was a beat before he added another straw to the camel's back. "You have a nice spike by the way."

Without warning, Kamoshida buried his fist in Ren's gut. He clutched his stomach and grunted in pain, but was kept upright by Kamoshida's hand on his shoulder. "You picked the wrong day to be a smartass." Before Ren could respond or attempt to pull away, Kamoshida kicked him in the shin before stomping on his ankle. "What's the matter, shitstain? Not going to fight back? Aren't you friends with Sakamoto?"

Ren gritted his teeth. He knew he couldn't fight back. If he even so much as raised a hand, Kamoshida would undoubtedly call this beating self-defense. Instead he just glared at him.

"That look in your eyes irritates me!" Kamoshida put Ren in a headlock before pummeling his side. About three or five blows later, Kamoshida let Ren go and grabbed his face. "Let's see, has it sunk in yet, Amamiya?" There was still a spark of defiance in Ren's eyes, but Kamoshida decided that he couldn't go too overboard. Especially after breaking Sakamoto's leg. "Do not fuck with me, you criminal scum."

Ren coughed, "Why would I do that?" Despite everything, his smile returned. Words were his only weapon here, so he was going to use them, for better or worse. "I'm not into men."

As Kamoshida reared back for a punch, Ren made a mental note to listen to his self-preservation instincts more.

After being unceremoniously thrown out of Kamoshida's office, Ren Amamiya was swiftly reminded of two things.

Thing one was why he never got into fights as a kid. He always got his butt handed to him. Thing two was that Kamoshida was very good at dealing out debilitating injuries without causing a need for a ER visit.

He was in the middle of limping back to... where were Ryuji and Morgana? Okay... no more twelve percent of a plan. It hurts too much.

He rounded the corner and clutched his gut. Ugh, he was going to have some lovely bruises in the morning.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Ren turned and saw a girl dressed in a variation of the typical Shujin uniform. Instead of a jacket, she had a vest. Was she on the student council? She had short brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. Ren laughed, "You should see the other guy. Got him right in the face with a volleyball."

The girl sighed. "Come on, I'll take you to the nurse's office."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "I take it that Kamoshida being creative with punishment is a common thing?"

The girl found a point on the floor that seemed very interesting. "Yes." She said bitterly. "It's Shujin's worst kept secret."

They walked in silence for a time, until Ren lost his balance due to his injured ankle. The girl caught his arm with strength that defied the expectations of her slim build. "Don't worry, I've got you."

One thing that Yukari had drilled into Ren before he had started high school was how to talk to girls. In her words, she had said that she wouldn't be able to live it down if a brother of hers had negative rizz. "Usually I don't like to be swept off my feet until the second date." Ren said.

"Wha-" The girl stammered for a moment before regaining her senses. "Well, it's good to see that your sense of humor is undamaged."

They made it to the nurse's office, and the girl once again voiced her discontent. "Of course there's no nurse. Why would there be?" She shook her head, "Take a seat, Amamiya. I'll get you an ice pack for your ankle."

Ren took a seat and worked the shoe and sock off of his injured foot. "So, you know my name. Is that because of our illustrious volleyball coach?"

The girl shook her head as she searched the nurse's office. "No, I'm student council president, it's my job to know about... ah..."

Ren sighed. "Potential problems?"

She froze for a moment. "That's... one way to put it." The mood in the room dipped even lower somehow. "W-we're getting off on the wrong foot. I'm Makoto Niijima."

Ren snickered. Makoto looked at him quizzically. "What?" Then it hit her. "You're a bad influence."

"Oh, yes. I'm such a public menace." Ren said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I encourage my fellow youth to use puns and wordplay."

Makoto found an ice pack and tied it to his ankle with some sports tape. "How dare you." She said with similar snark. After a moment, her expression turned downcast. "I'm sorry."

"What for, Niijima?" Ren asked.

Makoto swallowed. "It's my job to protect the student body from people like Kamoshida, but... I... this is all I can do."

Ren stared at her until she met his eyes. "You're worried about them taking away your college recommendation if you make too much of a fuss, aren't you?"

Makoto was stunned. "How did you-"

"You've got a third year pin and you're student council president, the dots aren't hard to connect."

"But still... I feel guilty."

"It's fine, Niijima. Not everyone has the balls to walk up to Kamoshida and tell him I'm not into men after he tells you to don't fuck with me."

Makoto gasped. "You didn't... that's... do you have no sense of self-preservation?"

Ren pondered the question for a moment. "Possibly."

It was about that time when Ryuji and Ann burst into the nurse's office. "Dude, are you- Oh."

Makoto winced. She knew she wasn't very popular right now. "Takamaki. Sakamoto."

Ryuji ignored her. Morgana hopped out of the bag and into Ren's lap. "Here, man." He passed him his glasses.

Makoto took a moment to regard Ren with his glasses on. They really did make him look more... dignified? "Well, you seem to be in good hands. I'll just- Ah..."

She awkwardly began to leave under a withering stare from Ann. "Niijima, wait!" She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Thank you for helping me. I really do appreciate it." She smiled and acknowledged his thanks with a nod before leaving.

"Dude, why'd you bother thanking her?" Ryuji asked, "She ain't doing anything to stop Kamoshida."

"When she should be, too!" Ann added, "I mean, isn't that her whole job as our student council president?"

Ren shrugged. "She could've let me limp here by myself, but she didn't."

"At least Kamoshida only roughed you up a little." Morgana said, "We should leave before there's trouble."

"Yeah, yeah." Ryuji thoughtlessly said, "We know."

"Did you just talk to that cat?" Ann asked.

"Shit." Ryuji swore under his breath.

Ren didn't miss a beat. "Ann, was it?" He leaned forward and steepled his hands. "Do you want to get back at Kamoshida?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. I'm done letting that bastard paw at me."

"We've got a way to do it." Ryuji explained, "But it's... really frigging weird."

"Wait, you guys have decided?" Morgana asked.

Ren, being possessed of slightly more situational awareness than Ryuji, simply patted Morgana on the head. "I can confirm that it is weird."

"Try me."

Ren pulled the metaphorical ripcord. "We're going to delve into the collective consciousness of humanity to an area that represents Kamoshida's perception of the school, then steal the core of that perception which will in turn eliminate his distorted desires and make him confess all his crimes from his own mouth."

Ann stared at him. "Are you on drugs?"

"No." Ren said, "In any event, we probably should wait for me to heal up before we go in again."

Bereft of anything else to say, Ann looked at her phone. "Hey, what's this weird app?"

"Looks like a red eyeball?" Ryuji asked.

"Please don't mess with it." Ren said, "That's how we-"

"Oops."

"Beginning Navigation."

Ann had decided that Ren and Ryuji were right. This was very weird. "Why are you two dressed like that and why did your cat turn into a monster?"

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana protested. "At least we got lucky and ended up in a Safe Room..."

"Well, we first ran into Morgana here. As for our clothes, that's because they protect us from distortions to our cognition." Ren explained.

"Why does it make you look like a knock-off Featherman?" Ann asked.

"It's his cognition of a rebel." Morgana explained. "First things first, though. Dia!"

Ann yelped as Morgana's Persona manifested and healed Ren. "What the hell was that?"

"His Persona." Ryuji explained, "It's how we fight here."

"Sure" Ann said, "Makes sense."

Ren looked at Morgana. "What's the situation, then? You said this was a Safe Room?"

Morgana nodded. "Yes, this is an area where the cognition is weak, meaning the Shadows can't enter it. The bad news is that we don't know where we are. We could be anywhere in the Palace."

Ryuji started stretching his leg. "So, mad dash for the entrance?"

"We'll have to." Ren said. He turned to Ann, "Stay close, and if you hear a voice in your head that sort of sounds like you talking about a contract, agree to it. That's how you awaken a Persona."

"I was not mentally prepared for today." Ann mused.

Ryuji kicked open the door, and the others followed. He and Ren took point and Morgana brought up the rear. They rounded the corner and ran right into a patrol of Shadows.

"Stop right there, thieves! Unhand the Princess!"

Ann did a double take. "Princess?"

"Smash 'em to bits, Captain Kidd!" Ryuji yelled. His Persona manifiested and clobbered the first Shadow.

"Arsene!" Ren's Persona shot blasts of dark energy out, but before his attacks landed, the knights transformed into black sludge and reappeared as horses with two horns.

"The hell?" Ryuji said.

"There's some back here, too!" Morgana shouted, "Zorro!" The blast of wind did little to scatter the encroaching Shadows.

They heard laughter. "Shit! That's Kamoshida!" Ryuji said.

"There's no way he should be onto us that quickly!" Morgana protested.

It felt like a pit had opened up in Ann's stomach. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

Before anyone could answer, Kamoshida rounded the corner, with what appeared to be Ann wearing a bikini and cat ears.

""Is that... me?" Ann said.

"That's how he perceives you, yes." Morgana said. "Despicable."

"Once again, thieves try to take what is most precious to me." Kamoshida proclaimed, "They try to take my princess from me!"

The cognitive Ann giggled. "They're, like, so stupid! Don't they know that you're the king?" She nuzzled into his arm, making everyone present that wasn't a cognitive being or Shadow want to throw up.

"That's right, Ann! Now what should I do with these thieves and imposter?"

"Kill the thieves, obviously!" She said in a vapid, airheady voice. "But, like, you should have some fun with the imposter first! She's me after all!"

"Oh, hell no!" Ann said.

Kamoshida smiled lecherously. "Your compliance isn't a factor." He snapped his fingers and chains shot out of the floor and bound Ann's arms and legs.

"No, Lady Ann!" Morgana cried out, "If we don't hurry, she'll be affected by-"

"It's fine, Morgana..." Ann said. "I know what I have to do." Even as the chains that held her in place tried to pull her down to her knees, she stood tall. "I know who I am, and who I'm not. And it is not Kamoshida's plaything!"

"You mean bitch!" The cognitive Ann complained, "Don't you know that Kamoshida's the king?"

Ann scoffed, "Yeah, the king of pervs! I won't let anyone like that control me anymore! And once I get out of here, you're going down, you scumbag!"

Kamoshida laughed, "Whatever you say, guess it's a good thing I've already decided to have Shiho take your place..."

Ann's rage reached a fever pitch. "If you lay one grubby hand on her, I WILL END YOU!"

Kamoshida grinned. "Too late. Since you wouldn't secure her place on the starting lineup, she was more than willing. Too bad it didn't matter!"

Ann screamed, unlocking the final lock in her heart that kept her Persona dormant.

My... it's taken far too long.

Ann's head throbbed, and she slumped forward. "Is this..."

Tell me... who's going to avenge her if you don't? Forgiving him was never the option. Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within. I am thou, thou art I, we can finally forge a contract.

Even as her body was wracked with pain, Ann continued to struggle against her chains. She stepped forward, and the chains began to fail, becoming superheated by the fire magic that was beginnng to swirl around her. "I hear you... Carmen!"

The chains fell away, and a red mask with a stylized cat motif appeared on Ann's face. "Nothing can be solved by restraining myself..."

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

Ann reached up and tore the mask off. Her clothes were changed into a red leather outfit, and a whip and submachine gun hung at her hips. While the knights were distracted by her Persona, she dashed forward and kicked one of their swords up in the air. She leapt up and snatched it. When she came down, she brought it down on the version of her that Kamoshida had created in his twisted cognition, The king scrambled backwards, and more knights came to protect him.

"I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag!" Ann seethed, "You've stolen everything from Shiho, You're destroying her!" She pointed a finger of accusation at Kamoshida behind his defensive screen. "Now it's your turn! I WILL ROB YOU OF EVERYTHING!"

Without prompting, Carmen let out a massive blast of flame that eradicated the knights and sent Kamoshida running for his life. The remaining Shadows coalesced into a single demon sitting on a toilet.

"Come on, Carmen! AGI!"

Another blast of flame hit the demon in the head, staggering him.

"NOW! EVERYONE! All Out Attack!" Morgana cried.

The four of them all moved in and pummeled it into submission. After a furious flurry of attacks, the demon exploded into nothingness.

"We need to go! Now!" Morgana said.

"Wait!"

They all turned to see one last Shadow. It was one of the two horned horses. "Uh... can I join you guys?"

Morgana blinked. "What?"

Ren decide to take the bait, "Why would you want to do that?"

The horse spoke again, "Cause I realized that I don't belong here, I really came from humanity's sea of souls. I'm Bicorn, and I'll be a big help." He turned into a ball of light and shot towards Ren. Before anyone could react, his mask absorbed the Shadow.

"Wait, can you use multiple Personas?" Morgana asked.

Ren shrugged. "I guess?"

Ryuji facepalmed. "Let's just... get out of here."

After they left the Metaverse, Ann had ran off while calling Shiho. Ryuji had followed her to make sure she got home safely, as it was only a matter of time before the post-awakening fatigue hit her.

After they had gotten off the train at Yongen-Jaya, Morgana piped up. "So, have you changed your mind? About changing Kamoshida's heart?"

Ren kept his tone light, but the undercurrent of anger was plain. "He beat the shit out of me for hitting him with a volleyball. My mind's made up."

The duo were interrupted by Ren's phone. "Hey, Ryuji, did Ann get home-"

"Not yet, we're at the hospital. Shiho tried to commit suicide. If we hadn't shown up when we did..."

"Damn it, if Kamoshida hadn't been running his mouth in the Palace, Ann wouldn't have known to check on her. How did she..."

"She tried to hang herself. Luckily, she tried right as Ann walked into her room. It was probably the only time my one year obsession with pro wrestling will result in saving a life." Ryuji laughed nervously. It was clear that he was trying to deflate the tension, which Ren appreciated.

"Do I want to know?"

"I may or may not have done a DDT on the rope."

Morgana yowled. "Really? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Shut up, furball! It was a very tense situation!"

"Ryuji." Ren said, "We need to stop this before someone actually dies."

"Ann said the same. We're in. We're going to take that bastard down... Leader."

He hung up, leaving Ren alone with his thoughts. Leader? Him? Well, he did have multiple Personas, so that made a certain amount of sense. He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"It's showtime."

Without being able to access the Dark Hour or the TV World, Fuuka Yamagishi's ability to detect Persona activity with her own Persona was limited. However, in the years since the incidents at Tatsumi Port Island and Inaba, she had been honing her ability to detect disturbances with Juno.

And there was one thing that she was absolutely certain of. Tokyo was riddled with Persona usage. Including a relatively new cluster focused around Shujin Academy.

The school that Yukari's stepbrother was attending due to his circumstances.

Fuuka reluctantly picked up the phone. "Yukari isn't going to like this..." She muttered to herself.

A/N: Alright, let's take it from the top.

I wanted Ryuji and Ann to be closer friends from the jump than in canon. This helps in avoiding Persona Protag-itis, where every character seems to revolve around them.

Yes, Morgana is officially Ren's emotional support animal. I regret nothing. Also, I have the characters neatly sidestep the nonsense of Maidwatch. Because that doesn't help with setting up the Sojiro and Kawakami ship.

Yes, I know how unrealistic it is for Ren to spike on Kamoshida. I also think it's hilarious.

What is objectively not hilarious is what happens after. Ann rejects him offscreen, so Kamoshida is in a bad mood. Which results in Ren being on the receiving end of corporal punishment. Good thing Makoto was there to patch him up, huh?

Spoiler: This will not be the last time this happens.

Ann's awakening, and Ren realizing he can have multiple Personas. Man, just think about how happy Yukari's going to be when she learns her little brother has the same ability her departed lover had!

I changed up Shiho's suicide attempt because I didn't want it to be a public spectacle. Also because I want it so that when Ann does throw it in Makoto's face, she's genuinely shocked by it.

That's it for this one. Until next time.