Chapter 15

"Dude. You don't look so good." Ryuji looked over Yu.

Yu pushed his glasses in, eye twitching. "I had a morning."

"What kind of morning." Ann winced.

"Someone was cat-calling me awake."

Morgana leapt out of the bag, "What!? I did not!"

"Sorry, someone cat-clawed me awake."

"I only landed on your face."

"It was horrible."

"Stop exaggerating! Sorry, Lady Ann. Don't mind him. He just has trouble waking up. I'm just trying to help him out a bit."

The female teen smiled down on him. "Aww, how considerate."

So not true, jerk! Yu shoved his glasses closer to his face, doing his best not to ground his teeth into powder. He was exhausted yesterday, and barely recovered when he was rudely woken by a sudden furry face mask. He had an hour till he needed to be up, but of course Morgana wasn't having any of that. This is what he gets for green lighting a sadistic little twerp. He may have been rude, but he didn't deserve this kind of treatment. Hopefully the little cat's vengeance has been sated now.

Even before, the cat had a little laugh when Yu was in class. The teen was so exhausted he didn't notice the white bullet blasted from Teacher Chalk-tosser till something stung his forehead. So again, the class laughed at him while he nursed the dent in his brow. The teacher even tried getting him with a second question to which he answered shutting everyone up. At least, Morgana was nice enough to complement his knowledge.

Back to the present, the four of them were hanging out on the roof, but near the entrance under shelter from the rain. Looking out at the downfall was nostalgic for Yu. The days he and his old gang came together after the midnight channel and went into the Metaverse together. This felt right somehow. A little bit at least.

With a nod he looked to the others and brought out his phone. "We ready? Let's go."

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The school warped and molded, growing in size and twisting into something dark. Joker stared up at their challenge, his mind working on where they needed to go.

"But daaaamn." Skull's words stole his attention to the group. The blond was looking over Ann's costume. Joker and Mona decided to give her a once over too.

Noticing the looks, Ann flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "Hm? What's up?"

Ryuji jumped back, righting his posture. "N-nothing. I was just thinkin' we should choose a code name for you too."

"A code name?"

"I'm Skull, he's Joker, and that's Mona."

Mona looked over her costume once again, crossing his arms. "Judging by your costume…"

Ryuji continued from there. "I mean, she's got that tail and stuff, so…" He turned to Joker. "Whadda you think, Ren?"

Joker reeled back. He almost forgot his new name. Recovering, he pinched the edge of his chin. "Sexy cat?"

Ann blanched and jumped back. "Wait! Is that what you're going to call me from now on!? I am SO not down with this!"

"What do you wanna be called, then?" Skull sighed.

"Um, something better than just a little cat." She shot Joker a look.

Smiling he shrugged. Everything about her was just over the top, it was the first thing he could think of.

Tapping her teeth, Ann looked down at the ground. "Maybe… 'Panther?' That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"Huh? Why?" Ryuji blinked.

"'Cause it sounds more… ferocious?"

Mona closed his eyes. "She's a cougar!"

"Don't call me that!" She looked over to Joker. "More importantly, Kamoshida!"

Snapping out of his funk, Skull grabbed his shoulder and twisted his arm around as he turned to the castle. "Oh, right. Let's go!" As they climbed up the drawbridge Skull cracked his knuckles, grinning. "All right, let's start fresh and get goin'!"

Mona hopped to the front looking back at the group. "It's game time from this point forward. I'll teach you guys the basics of infiltrating a Palace as we go."

They all began surging toward the ventilation entrance, and Joker readied to follow. A flash and a sparking noise came from his right. He stopped and turned. A blue cell door appeared from thin air and right beside it was Justine holding her clipboard. The door flung open and the little girl stepped forward. "My master would like a word with you."

"Okay?" He strolled up to the door, looking it up and down. The inside was filled with what looked like blue fog. He stepped through and became flooded with the color as all sound drowned out.

Chains echoed overhead and Yu rolled off the bed and struggled to the cell. Justine and Caroline were already staring at him in wait. Once he reached the bars they turned around to face the man sitting in the center. Caroline saluted. "The prisoner, Ren Amamyia, has returned."

"R-Ren?" They didn't know his real name? So they didn't kidnap him? They have no reason to perpetuate that name, no one else knew of this place after all.

Undeterred by his question, 'Igor' nodded with his wide, toothy smile. "Well done. It seems you have remembered my words. You truly make it worth rehabilitating you."

Rehabilitate? Is that why they call him by that other name? They needed him to forget Yu and just embrace this new identity? His hands clenched on the cool iron keeping him prisoner. He couldn't do that. That's not fair! He had a life beyond Ren. He wasn't going to just give it up. "What do you mean? What is rehabilitation?"

The long-nosed man chuckled in amusement. "I am not attempting to withhold information from you."

Damn liar, Yu already knew he wasn't Igor.

"The essence of the rehabilitation that you must complete will be explained in due time. Once you encounter friends who share your aesthetics and discover your place in reality, only then, will I explain it all. Such a day should not be far off. This time, I wish to introduce you to the aid we are providing."

"Aid?"

"Due to your potential in wielding the power of the wild card, you can handle more than one Persona. That power holds infinite possibilities. We will assist you in nurturing that potential. To that end, we must execute your Persona."

Yu froze, stepping away from the bars. "Execute?"

The man laughed, "Do not be alarmed. Personas are personalities that exist within you. Thus, you will only be discarding old personalities to have them be reborn as new ones. By discarding your old identity, you give way to a new one. Hence, we call that process 'execution.' Think of it as the fusion of your Personas."

Then why isn't it fusion?! He did fusion back in Inaba, there was no 'executions.' He would just hand Igor the cards holding his personas and the Master of the Velvet Room would then use his powers to fuse these cards together to create a new one. There was no 'killing' mentioned or implied. He did not feel comfortable putting any of his personalities through this.

Igor stood up from his desk and stepped back. The desk vanished and two tall objects began forming behind him. "Now then, let us try an actual Persona fusion."

The two objects solidified. Yu recognized it as guillotines, the glimmering blades down as if already the deed has been done prior. The teen stepped away from the bars, shaking his head.

"Are you seriously refusing our master's gift!?" Caroline snapped.

Justine stared him down. "If you do not fuse your Personas, you will never grow." She placed her clipboard on the shelf made in the side of his cell. "This holds a list of the Personas that you may create. Choose which one you want."

Yu shook his head. He wasn't actually going to do this, was he? He didn't want to watch an execution. Harmless or not it feels wrong. Shaking hands reached out and took the clipboard. He brought it up and stared at the information.

He had Arsene, Bicorn, Pixie, and Jack-O-Lantern. He could create Agathion, Incubus, Mandrake, Saki Mitama, or Silky. He was not putting Arsene in, that means he can only create Saki Mitama or Incubus. He can recapture, if need be, he already knows Incubus is in the castle too so there's no point in fusing that. It had to be Saki Mitama. Despite this knowledge he couldn't bring himself to say it. Why was he doing this? Why was he being forced to do this? Where was his team?!

Choking, the image of the Investigation Team flared inside his mind. All their detective work, their promises to each other. Wasn't one of them a promise to come find him if he ever went missing? Where were they then!? They've delt with crazy crap before, why is this throwing them off!? Why is he suffering for this?! Why is he not freed yet?!

He slammed his fist against the wall, pressure behind his eyes mounting. This dank cell, the ominous guillotines, this strange pretender, everything was against him. Those words printed online from Naoto herself, 'Nothing further can be done.' They echoed in his ears. His case was cold. Everyone gave up. No one was looking. He was alone. Abandoned. Why can't any of them rescue him? Did he really mean nothing? Didn't they promise to find him? Was it all a lie?

He thrust the clipboard back toward Justine. "Saki Mitama." Can they just get this over with?

Seconds passed, but nothing happened. He looked over toward her and he met her golden eye. The once stoic expression on her face filled with concern and fear. She wasn't looking at his eyes. Only the tears sparkling down his cheeks. He averted his gaze, unable to meet her's.

Gently, the clipboard was taken from his grip. He chanced a look and noticed she was staring down at the clipboard, a sad look in her eye. "Very well."

She looked over at her sister who was watching her with an uncertain look. Yu could feel the two's concern. It frightened him. Why do they care? Why are they concerned? He didn't know them, they didn't know him. He was just some prisoner to them. They were going to kill his Personas. Why did they care?!

"Girls." They jumped at 'Igor's' voice. "Let us begin."

The two looked back at Yu and nodded, the air of professionalism back within their faces. One of lethargy, one of contempt. They spun on their heels and marched to opposing cells. The cells opened and blue flames ignited alive. Jack-O-Lantern appeared in one while Bicorn appeared in the other. The two were sagging against the floor, as if in pain.

The wardens walked up to the guillotines. Their hands grabbing the rope and slowly pulled the blade up, up several meters into the air. Yu shivered without able to do anything other than watch. The twins tossed a blanket over the Persona's, tying them down with chains as the beings under them strained in their grips. The twins then dragged them over to the death device, shoving the Persona's heads into the lock and clamping the device down on the frantic creatures. They marched up to the sides of the contraptions and pulled the levers. With a clang Yu turned away, closing his eyes. With a bang he knew what happened. He couldn't hear the Personas struggling anymore.

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Ren stood blankly staring at the wall. He didn't even realize he was out of the Velvet Room. Now standing in the courtyard right up against the outer wall. His heart… was it gone? It felt numb there, he couldn't tell.

"Something wrong?" A voice came from behind. Joker looked up from the floor and turned around. Mona stood there looking up at him, "You were just standing around all of a-" Morgana's eyes widened, "…sudden."

Joker felt something drip of his cheek, the sound of a drop struck the ground. He quickly turned away.

Skull ran up beside him. "What's goin' on?"

"Ryuji!" Panther snapped. "Don't." Skull looked to her then back to Joker before stepping back wordlessly.

Mona wobbled up beside Joker, hand rubbing his arm. "Are you okay? It's not because I was pushing you yesterday, is it?"

Joker's mouth opened then closed. Eyes only able to stare at the stone in front of his face. "I killed… them."

"Killed?" Ann took a step back.

Skull shot her a look then to Joker. "Who're you talkin' about?"

"My Personas."

"You're personas?"

Joker turned, eyes downcast. "I killed them."

Mona hopped up. "What do you mean? Can you not summon them anymore?"

"I…" He didn't know how to tell them. What could he say? It's like every important detail he has must remain silent. He can't talk about Yu, he can't talk about Inaba, and now the Velvet Room. What can he say? "I… I can create stronger Personas."

"Really?" Skull sounded amazed.

"But… only by sacrificing Personas. I… they died right in front of me. They… looked like they were in pain."

Panther rubbed his shoulder. "I-I'm sure they don't hate you for it."

"They died! How would you know!" His roar made her leap away from him. Seeing that he rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm… having a hard time processing this."

Mona tapped his leg. "Can we see this new persona?"

Joker nodded. He took off his mast and threw it in the air. "Saki Mitama."

With a roar of blue flame, a Persona flew out of the haze. A golden crescent moon, a small smile with half-closed eyes. It looked peaceful, understanding. That face made Joker just want to cringe away. Two died to create this. It was wrong.

Mona walked around it, eyes aglow. "It's stronger than anything you've had before. That's incredible." He flinched at his own words, looking over to Joker. "W-well, if it's any consolation."

Rubbing away the tears, Joker shook his head. That was no consolation. He knew it was more powerful. That's how fusion worked. Not that he can tell them.

Skull rubbed his head. "Should we… hold off for today?"

"No." Joker snatched at his new Persona, it turned into his mask which he planted on his face. "We go forward."

Panther rubbed her arms. "But…"

"Forward. It won't be the last time I do this." He didn't look to see if they were following. He just needed to get inside. Needed to let off steam by killing shadows. He didn't want to go around collecting them anymore. What would be the point in collecting Personas for fun if he were only going to slaughter them later? There's no fun in that. Not anymore.