Catch-22: Break in Play: The Chains
By: M14Mouse
Summary: Grumpy Old Man Persona has been playing Yabby's game long enough. It is time to make his own rules. Everyone else to be damned.
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
Many thanks to AKatsinTcups for betaing this chapter.
Kids: Can't live them, can't shoot them.-Grandpa Gustafan, Grumpy Old Men
He knew Yabby was trouble the first time that Yabby crawled into his realm.
Slimy, feathered bastard with his slick words. He should have known better.
He shouldn't have taken that damn bet. Of course, in his defense, Igor knew how to work the odds in his favor. So, he thought that he did the same.
Those kids that he picked out were truly made of some tough stuff.
Who would have thought that Igor would lose to that bastard?
He didn't miss the irony of this situation at all.
He survived Christianity and yet he couldn't survive one of those feathered bastards.
When he lost their bet, Yaggy stuck him some type of orb and put him on a shelf.
That little fact pissed him off to no end.
He wasn't something to put on a shelf. He raged a bit in the darken orb. He was a damn god of the underworld and trapped in a damn orb. He has every right to rage for a bit. After a while, he stopped and pondered.
He pondered a lot of things but the one thing that he pondered was why he was still here?
According to their little bet, he should have been destroyed or tossed into the sea of souls. Yet, he was still here.
Hmmm….
Maybe, Iggy didn't lose to Yabgy after all. It would make sense. Yogo is a sore loser and hated a fair trade. He still remembered the whole Jesus thing and how well Yakky took it. Oh, don't speak about Adam either. He complained for centuries about that incident. It was to the point that the other feathered bastards were the only ones that listen to him ramble on about it.
The million-dollar question is what happened to Igor?
He didn't know what bet that they had going on but if he took a stab at it, he would guess Yar-Bar hid him or imprisoned him somewhere. Igor wasn't one to run away or hide from a fight. He knew if he left Igor alone, it would come and bite him in the ass.
Ask Nyx.
He couldn't ponder much longer before Yak Yak pulled him out.
Sleep well, my old friend?
Can it, Yaz.
You shouldn't talk to an old friend like that.
Would you like for me to say it in French? It's a prettier language and it wouldn't hurt your sensitive ears.
Yappy groaned like a little angry dog.
T'es une poule mouillée.
I can and will put you back.
Curiosity always got the better of him. So, he asked.
What do you want?
I have a proposition for you.
Oh?
One of Igor's wild cards has agreed to play a game with me.
What are your rules? Trying to wiggly your way out of them, already? крути педали, пока не дали
I do no such thing.
Логово
Listen carefully, godling, I will only give you this offer once. The boy agreed to bear a mask of my choice during the duration of our game. Given that you lost our last game. I thought perhaps, you would be interested in winning your freedom.
If he had a form, he would have snorted.
What is the catch?
The catch is simple. He will not succeed. I did agree not to harm him or interfere with the television realm but after that, you can make his life difficult as possible. I will, from time to time, ask you to report to me on his progress. If you succeed in stopping him, you are free to go, and your powers restored.
That is all.
That is all.
What if I decide to the hell with it, and become his persona?
You will be stripped bare and begin anew.
Fuck that.
You agree?
He looked around the nothingness around him.
You have a deal, Yab.
He thought that it would be easy. Despite all of the lad's powers and abilities, he was still mortal.
He was damn wrong.
The lad's mind was a damn steel trap. He knew that he was there. He didn't move to push him or anything. He treated him like any other of his personas.
He wasn't going to lie…it was kind of insulting. Wild cards adjust to weird to well.
Of course, his personas treated him like an unwelcomed guest.
Isis promised to tie him up to a horse and dragged him for several miles.
Atropos planned to cut his string if he even looked at the boy wrong.
High Pixie and Leanan Sidhe were nice enough.
Tam Lin and Rakasa wanted to cut him into little pieces.
Mot thought that he was a joke.
No one can understand Pyro Jack or Abbadon expect the lad. So, he wasn't a hundred percent sure what they thought of him.
He will say this freely that Izanagi scared the living crap out of him.
He was a god that you didn't want to meet in a market or a dark alley.
So, in conclusion, he couldn't do anything. He had no influence over the lad. He tried to get his attention with the cards. The lad was curious but not enough to ask more. Damn, that lad…
He tried headaches to get his attention…that nearly got him killed.
He did what any respectable god would do.
He pouted and watched.
He would gleefully report that Yak Tak was losing. The best thing was that he doesn't realize that he was losing. He was too far up his own ass to see it.
Igor's chosen…the one that Yakky Gabby is trying to lead into ruin by playing both sides wasn't following him anymore.
He wondered if Laffy Taffy forget Wild Cards are drawn to each other even if one powers are suppressed. Okay, suppressed isn't the word that he was looking for. Another outlet, perhaps? Those shadow are like moths to a flame, and the more the lad is down there, the more those friends of his grow in numbers. When he pulled the whole Igor act, the kid just turned around and asked his Sensei for clarification.
Of course, the questions don't happen right away, but the kid is slowly starting to trust the lad. It's kind of amusing that the kid asked in such an indirect way. He always felt a wave of understanding from the lad. That, and the lad had the patience of a saint.
Of course, he and the lad knew why.
Adults have truly screwed that poor kid over. If the lad found out the whole story, he wanted a front row seat with some popcorn to watch the ass kicking show.
That lad is very protective over those kids. Those kids had it rough. So, the lad did little things that he hoped his students wouldn't notice.
Ann: Made sure that her modeling jobs were on the up and up.
Makoto: College recommendations.
Yusuke: Art supplies
Ryuji: Membership to his favorite gym
Ren: Major donations to the jar.
Hell, he is adopting another kid into his little circle. What is the lass's name? Haur…no…Haru.
The lad was nothing but a mother hen.
He wasn't going to lie. He was starting to like the lad. He hated that. The lad had balls of steel. Normally, he would invite the lad to game of poker and have some beer with him. The lad probably had some great stories to tell. His personas only talk about it, but he really wanted to know about that whole defeating a god by dancing thing. He had to put that aside. He had to put aside his growing like of the lad because, most of all, he wanted his damn freedom. He hated these forsake chains and wanted to break free.
He wanted to say fuck the rules.
No, he had to do better this time. He won't be like those other stupid ass gods who can't change worth a damn and makes the same mistake over and over again. Tic-Tac wanted him to play. Fine, he will play but Yap Yak will regret it.
He smirked.
It's time to get to work.
He wondered if he could get the lad and his shadow friends on board.
Next Chapter: The Name Game
A/N: This is my beta's favorite chapter thus far. She loves Grumpy Old Man Persona or GOMP as she calls him. Don't worry. We are getting there. I am actually working on that chapter now (as I rewrote it like five times.) You can expect some more appearances by the Persona 3 gang in the future. Again, thank you for the favorites, reviews, kudos, etc. You rock!