Well, the response to the first chapter was a bit unexpected, but I'm glad you guys liked it. Also, PERSONA 3 REMAKE IS REAL AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Time for chapter 2. I don't own Persona, Atlus does!

Chapter 2: A Thief Awakens

?

The silver haired woman, Sae, appeared to be deep in thought, having listened to the beginning of Ren's tale. She finally spoke. "I'm glad your relationship with Sakura-san started out well."

"He's a nice old man, and we had a couple of interests we had in common," Ren replied raspily, still feeling the effects of whatever happened to him.

"I still find it hard to believe that the way you first found out about this world was by accident." Sae said, her eyes narrowing, almost like they were hunting for any sign of deceit in Ren's story with his next words.

"I can't really lie right now because of what they injected into me, so I'm not lying." Ren responded.

Sae sighed "Maybe, but that drug hasn't been fully tested, so who knows if it's actually working. Still…I hate you were made into a test subject." She said with a guilty look on her face.

"What's done is done. None of it is your fault, so don't give me that look. It doesn't belong on your beautiful face." Ren replied, trying to brush aside her growing guilt.

"Charmer." she scoffed, turning her head away, but Ren noticed the blush on Sae's face despite her attempts to hide it.

"Well, I have been described as…Debonair." Ren said with a smirk.

Sae snorted "With all your usual attempts at flattery, if I hadn't seen the needle, I wouldn't suspect that you had just gone through hell."

"It's not flattery if it is the truth." Ren refuted, causing Sae to turn another shade of red again. "You should know me better by now. And…I wouldn't be able to keep my mind completely straight if it wasn't for my abilities."

"Do these abilities relate to this other world?" Sae questioned.

"Yes." Ren nodded "It's called the Metaverse."

"Does it connect with your first target?" Sae asked, as she reached into her bag, and pulled out a manilla file folder. She slapped it onto the table, then opened it, presenting the face of the man Ren had seen drive Ann to school on his first day. The man Ryuji called Kamoshida. Along with a red calling card, with the words "Take your heart" and its logo being a face with a red top hat smiling mischievously. "Kamoshida Suguru. Former P.E. Teacher and former Olympic gold medalist."

Ren, despite still being under the effect of drugs and whatever else had happened to him, found the strength to glare at the picture of the man with hate. "Yeah, what about him?" he growled.

"I partially don't blame you for reacting that way," Sae admitted, "With his confession, he admitted to all the disgusting acts he committed at your school. The abuse, the…violations…" Sae's expression was one of disgust. "However, your hatred seems more personal. Which I find hard to believe, considering you had just transferred to Shujin." Sae leaned forward over the table, her eyes serious "So…what did he do? Why did you go after him? I'm sure you had a good reason to, but I need to know why, and how this 'Metaverse.' works. So please, tell me the truth Ren, and I can help you. As long as you haven't done anything truly malicious of course."

"May I continue my story then?" Ren asked, to which Sae nodded "So, Ryuji and I went into the castle, and…"

4/11

As the boys entered the castle, Ren immediately realized something was very…off. Just like the exterior, the interior of the "school" was instead similar to that of medieval castles. There were multiple chandeliers that stood above where they walked in, as well as large candles attached to marble columns, along with candles that lit on metal holders. The floors were the only things that seemed to fit in a school, as they were tiled with black and white. However, it was covered up by the red carpet on the ground. In front of them, there were two sets of stairs that led to a painting of a man in knight armor, sword in hand. 'Okay, just when things couldn't get any weirder. What the hell is going on?' Ren wondered.

"Th-That's weird…where's the school?" Ryuji asked.

"This should be it. I was just here yesterday." Ren said, completely baffled "I don't think we made a wrong turn either. The sign clearly said 'Shujin Academy.'"

"Y-Yeah." Ryuji stuttered, as he continued looking around the castle's interior. "What's going on here?"

Ren decided to pull out his phone to check his email for the miniscule chance he missed an email about some sort of event or something happening at the school, before he noticed his phone had no bars at all. "Sakamoto-san, my phone is out of service."

"Mine too." Ryuji added, checking his own phone. "Where the hell did we end up?"

"I don't-" Ren's sentence was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a knight with a blue mask that seemed to stand a foot or 2 taller than the boys. The knight slowly began to approach the boys. 'Something feels…off about that knight. Is that sword real?' Ren thought as he analyzed the knight.

"Geez, you freaked me out…" Ryuji sighed, clearly not as concerned about the knight as Ren was. "Who're you? You a student?" Ryuji asked as he began to approach the knight, until he was standing a few feet away, "Man, your costume's impressive…Is that armor real?"

"Sakamoto-san, something feels wrong," Ren warned.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Amamiya-san? It's clearly some dude in a costume." Ryuji assured Ren, disregarding his warning, before he turned back to the knight. "C'mon, don't just stand there. Say somethin'," Ryuji pestered, trying to get the knight to talk.

Suddenly, a second knight appeared out of nowhere to the right of the first knight, and began to walk slowly towards the boys. Ren could immediately feel a threatening aura come off of the second knight, and judging by Ryuji's spooked face, he could as well "H-Hey, what's goin on?" he questioned the knights, as a similar aura started oozing off of the first.

"I don't think this is school staff." Ren said with apprehension.

"You're right. This shit's real." Ryuji agreed, slight fear present in his voice. The second knight approached him, making him step back. "C-Calm down! Time out, man!" Ryuji cried, his fear growing.

"C'mon, we gotta run." Ren urged.

"Yeah." Ryuji nodded. "Let's quit standing around and bolt!" Both boys turned and began to sprint towards the entrance, but to their horror, two more knights appeared from both sides of the room, cutting them off from escaping. "Ugh, what's with these guys!?" Ryuji reacted frustrated, before one of the knights bashed him with his shield, knocking him to the ground with a grunt.

"Sakamoto-san!" Ren exclaimed, before he was bashed from behind by another knight's shield, on the ground on all fours like Ryuji.

"Dammit, you're gonna-" Ryuji's sentence was caught off as his head was bashed by another knight's shield, knocking him out.

'How the hell did it come to th-' Ren couldn't even finish his thought as his head was bashed by a shield too.

The last words he heard, most likely from one of the knights, before he completely lost consciousness were, "Take them away!"

"...Hey." Ren heard a familiar voice speak softly to him "Hey! Wake up!" the voice urged, volume raised this time.

He opened his eyes and groggily sat up. He nursed his head from the prior bash while analyzing his surroundings. Ren was surprised to see he was inside another prison cell, although this one was more medieval style, with chains and cuffs along the brick walls. Three barrels sat near the bars, two on one side, and one on the other. He also took note he had been sleeping on a prison bed for who knows how long. 'I'd normally be very worried about being late for school, but we've got bigger problems. What the hell is going on?' Ren asked himself.

"You all right, Amamiya-san?" Ryuji asked, who was standing up and had been the one who had woken up the so-called delinquent.

"As much as one can be after getting bashed on the head by a shield." Ren groaned, "You?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ryuji affirmed. "Looks like this ain't no dream…Ugh, what's goin' on!?"

"I'm not sure, but I get the feeling we shouldn't stay here," said Ren.

Ryuji went up to the bars of the cell and began to bang on them loudly. "Hey, let us outta here! I know there's someone out there!"

"I don't think that is gonna work." Ren deadpanned.

"Dammit, where are we?" Ryuji asked himself, "Is this some kind of movie set?"

"Ah yes, the movie set that just so happened to appear where our school was supposed to be, and then had those 'actors' assault two high school students," Ren remarked sarcastically.

"You got a-" Ryuji's retort was cut off by a sudden set of screams not too far from them. Ren stood up, an uneasy feeling brewing inside of him, and judging by Ryuji's expression, he was feeling the same. Both boys went up to the bars, trying to trace the source of the screams, but to no avail. "Th-The hell was that just now?"

"That sounded like…someone getting tortured." Ren said reluctantly. More screams followed, paired with groans, making Ren's theory more and more of a possibility.

"Whoa…" Ryuji muttered, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa… You're shittin' me, right?"

"Sakamoto-san, I know you want to find a logical explanation for all of this, but I don't think you're gonna find it." Ren informed the blond haired boy, "We can worry about the details later, but right now, we need to get the fuck out of here."

"You're right." Ryuji replied, "This is bad, but there has to be somethin' in this room we can use to escape, right?"

Ren nodded. "Let's check these barrels. Maybe they have something." Both boys each checked a barrel, but they were empty.

"Okay, nothin' in the barrels, but maybe we can hide in them and trick the guards like in the movies." Ryuji proposed.

Ren shook his head. "I don't think that's gonna work, considering we're the only prisoners in here, and if I were a guard, I'd check the barrels first."

"You're right," Ryuji sighed, "How about those chains on the walls?"

Ren walked up to the wall and pulled on one of the cuffs, trying to get it off the wall. "If we could get these off the walls, maybe we could use these as a weapon of some sorts against the guards…Damn it, no good. These things are attached to something on the other side." Ren let go of the chains, frustrated.

"Those things are probably used for torturing people, right?" Ryuji asked reluctantly.

"Yeah." Ren answered with slight disgust. "You probably couldn't do much to stop it either if any of those knights we encountered earlier are the guards of this prison."

"How much time d'you think's passed since we came here?"

"I don't know, twenty minutes or something," Ren guessed.

"Shit, we're both late," Ryuji cursed.

"I'd normally be concerned about that myself, but we've got bigger problems." Ren reminded his fellow student.

"I know, I know! It's just…I'm already considered to be a delinquent, and…while I've accepted that, I'd like to limit the amount of shit…people have to worry about." Ryuji explained hesitantly.

"What do you mean by-" Ren's question was interrupted by sudden footsteps, getting closer to their prison cell with each stomp. The boys went up to the prison bars to see who was approaching their cell. To their horror, it was a group of three knights, who were stomping their way to their cell. Ren began to panic. 'Crap. I don't think we're gonna be able to get out of this. Can I fight them?' He shook his head. 'Even if I tried, I can't do anything to that armor of theirs. Am I really forced to hope these knights are gonna let us go? Is there really nothing I can do? I…I can't just accept that. But what the hell can I do?'

The group of knights made it to the boys' cells. The leading knight then spoke. "Be glad your punishment has been decided upon. Your charge is Unlawful Entry. Thus, you will be sentenced to death."

"Say what?!" Ryuji cried out in shock.

'It's happening again.' Ren thought, his mind briefly flashing back to his arrest. 'What crime did I really commit here? I only came here because I wanted to go to school. We just opened the door, it was unlocked. We didn't force our way in. There was also no sign saying we couldn't enter either. Are we really going to die just 'cause!?'

"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle." Ren heard a familiar voice ominously speak out. Footsteps approached the cell, the lead knight moving aside. His eyes widened when he recognized the ruler of the castle. It was the man he had met that morning, Kamoshida. However this time, instead of the normal attire he wore this morning, he wore a gold crown on his head, along with a red heart printed cape, and no pants. This man was only wearing a cape, a crown, and a bright pink speedo.

'T-That's Kamoshida, isn't it?!' he wondered, 'Okay, something is definitely up. There is no way an elite school like this is gonna let a teacher walk around in only a cape and underwear. Also, wait a minute.' He squinted as he noticed the man's eyes. 'Why are his eyes yellow? I didn't interact with him much, but I think I'd immediately notice someone with yellow eyes, because it's not everyday you see that. So what's going on here?'

"Huh? Wait…is that you, Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked, perplexed and stunned by this turn of events.

"Sakamoto-san, are Kamoshida's eyes normally yellow?" Ren asked, trying to make sure he hadn't missed Kamoshida having yellow eyes when he had interacted with him this morning.

"What? No, 'course not…wait, why are his eyes yellow?!"

Kamoshida began shaking his head "I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto…" Kamoshida smirked at Ryuji "Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all, huh?" Kamoshida's gaze shifted towards Ren "And you brought a friend this time…because you can't do anything yourself."

"This ain't funny, you asshole!" Ryuji roared.

"Big talk coming from a guy who needs knights to do his dirty work." Ren snarked.

Kamoshida's eyes narrowed "Is that how you two speak to a king? It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me-the king." Kamoshida stroked his chin while grinning "The punishment for that is death."

'That's it? Execution for the mere act of "sneaking in" even though the door was clearly unlocked and we had no idea where we were, and for insulting the "king." Ren's hands began shaking, not out of fear, but out of anger 'Is there seriously nothing I can do, again? I can't just accept th-' Ren's thought was cut short, by the lead knight unlocking the cell, using the key he had in his hand with the sword, before it mysteriously vanished. The three knights entered, causing the boys to back away, with Ren backing up to the middle of the left wall, while Ryuji was forced into a corner.

Ryuji's fists were shaking, mostly likely due to the situation the boys were now in. "...Goddamnit!" The blond boy charged at one of the knights, pushing it down to the ground. Ren was surprised, as there was a way for these knights to be at least temporarily incapacitated: you had to knock them down. "I ain't down for this shit! C'mon Amamiya-san, we're out of here!" Ryuji ordered Ren, who nodded, but just as the boys were about to attempt to get away, the second knight smacked Ryuji in the chest with the hilt of his sword. Ryuji was sent stumbling backwards to the wall opposite of Ren, clutching his chest in pain, falling to his knees. "Nnngh…Owwww…" he groaned. To make matters worse, the knight Ryuji had taken down got back up, and seemed relatively fine, making Ryuji's efforts wasted.

Ren sprung into action, trying to charge at the knight that hit Ryuji, but was bashed by the shield of the knight on his back, knocking him down on all fours. 'Damn that hurts. These knights are too fuckling strong. What the hell are they?'

"Get up, Amamiya!" Ryuji croaked, still on the ground nursing his chest, "Get up and get outta here! These guys are serious!"

Ren started to get back onto his feet, nursing his back. 'Yeah…it would be simple to just leave him here. To run away, save myself, and ensure my own survival. Hell, it would be the logical choice. But…would I ever forgive myself if I did that?' he shook his head 'No, I absolutely could not. Even with everything that has happened…I could never have forgiven myself if I abandoned that woman to be assaulted by that man. I can't just run…but what do I do?'

"Oh? What choice are you gonna make? Are you gonna run away? What a heartless friend you would be if that was the case." Kamoshida taunted.

"He ain't a friend…" Ryuji denied, surprising the other boy, "C'mon! Hurry up and go!"

'Sorry, Sakamoto-san. I know what you are trying to do…but I can't do that,' Ren thought. He stood in place, his eyes shadowed.

"Dude, c'mon! Run away!" insisted the blond, "What are you doing?!"

"What's the matter? Too scared to run away?" Kamoshida mocked, a sinister smirk etched onto his face. "Hmph, pathetic scum like you isn't worth my time." The older man pointed at Ryuji "I'll focus on this one's execution, considering our history."

Two of the knights each grabbed Ryuji's arms and dragged him over to the bars. They held him up as Kamoshida slowly approached him, a sinister grin etched onto his face. Ren was about to try and intervene, but the third knight held a sword to his chest, letting him know if he moved, he would die right away. 'Damn it…I can't do anything. Should I have…no, I'd never run like that. I just hate that I can't do anything to stop this!'

When Kamsohida came face to face with Ryuji, his face contorted into a twisted grin as he brought up his fist. "Take this!" he roared, as his fist slammed into Ryuji's face. He continued to punch the blond haired boy, knocking him around while the knights held him aloft, all the while insulting him with jabs like, "Useless pest!" and, "Lowly scum!" As he continued flailing punches, and soon kicks, on the poor boy, Ren could only watch, his fists clenching, his teeth gritting, and his eyes glaring at the injustice in front of him.

'I can't take this. I don't give two shits if this man is the king' or whatever, this is wrong! But, I'm still powerless to stop these types of people… I was powerless in the face of that man, and I'm powerless again against this asshole.' Ren's eyes widened. 'That's right, I need power. The power to protect, and the power to stop monsters like him and that man. But, I don't have it. As of right now, I can't do anything.'

Ryuji's body eventually began to sag from the beating Kamoshida laid onto him. The knights dropped him, leaving him to slump to the ground, groaning and panting from the torture put upon him. To add insult to injury, Kamoshida spat on him, before a knight tossed him to the other side of the cell, letting him roll a few times before stopping. "A peasant like you isn't worth beating," the 'king' huffed arrogantly. He gestured to one of the knights that had held up Ryuji, and that knight approached Ren. The knight that was holding the sword to Ren's chest earlier dropped it, only to put the so-called delinquent up against the wall, as well as the knight Kamoshida had gestured to. Kamoshida approached Ren, a cocky smirk on his face. "You said that I was all talk because I needed my knights to do my dirty work. What do you think of me now?"

Ren glared at the man, before he smirked. In this situation, he probably should be scared. However, he would not give this man the satisfaction of showing him any fear, even in the face of death, even in the face of his growing helplessness. "You're still a weak man who needs to rely on his knights to do his dirty work. Nothing has changed," he answered.

Kamoshida's smirk changed into a look of annoyance, before he delivered a blow to Ren's face, knocking off his glasses, then nailed another a hit to Ren's stomach, causing the boy to wheeze. "You talk too much. I'll be sure to give you an even worse execution after I'm done with the peasant, Sakamoto. Keep holding him there." Kamoshida turned and headed back towards the battered Ryuji, while his knights pinned Ren in place.

"No…I don't wanna die…" Ryuji pleaded. Kamoshida's only response was a laugh, while the knight next to him started to approach the boy, looking prepared to chop off the boy's head.

Ren could only watch on in horror. He struggled and tried to break free, but to no avail. 'Please, whatever is out there, lend me power. Let me stop this!' Ren begged in his mind, his one last attempt to stop the injustice in front of him. Just as he began to regret his decision, suddenly, the world around him stopped. Time seemed to have frozen, and everything seemed to take on a light blue tint. The knights, Kamoshida, even Ryuji. He could move his head, but not his body. 'Is this some k…hallucination? Or what? Come to think of it, something like this happened on my way to Leblanc.'

He then noticed a blue, sparkling butterfly flying near him. Suddenly, the black haired young man heard the voice of a woman.

"This is truly an unjust game…Your chances of winning are almost none," the voice said, the butterfly fluttering past his vision. Before the so-called delinquent could even try to comprehend what was going on, it continued. "But, if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…"

'I don't know what the hell this butterfly is talking about…but whatever it is, give it to me. Let me take the path to getting out of this!' Ren demanded internally. Suddenly, the world unfroze, and time moved normally again. Immediately, the Shujin student heard another voice.

"What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch?" the voice asked. This one seemed to be coming from a man, and sounded very eccentric and gentlemanly. Ren had no idea why, but this voice felt familiar to him, and despite him wanting to question what was going on, now was not the time. "Are you going to forsake him to save yourself? Or will you just let yourself die with him? Death awaits him if you do nothing, and will come for you if you just let these weaklings continue to hold you down."

Ren's eyes began to blaze with determination as this voice challenged him. 'No. I want to save him and myself. And…I want to beat the scumbags who put me in this situation in the first place!'

"So you do have some fight in you? Very good. Now answer me this: Was your previous decision a mistake?" the voice asked.

'No…it wasn't. Never. I just…saw my life crumble before my eyes, and with how many people told me that I was wrong for what I did, I had this nagging thought pop into my head that maybe I was wrong for intervening, and I should have continued home. However, recently, when I had people tell me that I did the right thing, it helped me a lot.' Ren slumped in defeat as he continued his mental conversation with the voice 'The real truth is…I'm a victim of a corrupt system, and those with power can put anyone through hell just for daring to challenge them. I have none of that power. I don't even have the strength to break free from these knights and stop Sakamoto-san from being executed. And once he's dead, I'll be executed too, losing my chance to try to rebuild my life before I've even gotten a chance to.' He then noticed the knight picking Ryuji's body and prop him against the other wall. His initial guess of the knight chopping off the blond's head was wrong. It was actually going to stab him through his skull. The Shujin student struggled against the grip of the two knights once again, but it was no use. His only hope was this mysterious voice. Whatever he was gonna try to offer him, he better give it to him quickly. 'I know I need power! So if you can give it to me, do it! Please let me save myself and Sakamoto-san! Let me ravage those who dare try to trample on me once again!'

"Hahahahahaha!" the voice laughed "Very good. I heed your resolve. Fair warning: this will hurt."

'What do you-' Ren's question was cut off as he began to feel a searing pain throughout his entire body. It grew more and more intense by the second. He began squirming under the knights' grip, desperately trying to break free in order to nurse himself and alleviate the growing pain. As this was happening, the voice began to speak.

"Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I… Thou, who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice," the voice began ominously.

As the pain continued, Ren felt a growing power rise within him at the same time. The black-haired boy knew he had to endure, no matter how intense the agony was. His chance was coming.

"…Call upon my name, and release thy rage!" the voice continued. Ren let out a final guttural cry, head looking at the ceiling above, before the pain finally stopped. His body sagged, and he was heavily breathing, but he could feel something else inside of him.

'I feel the power inside of me. I naturally know what to do next too. One more step, right?'

"That's correct, Ren." the voice answered "Now, show the strength of thy will, to ascertain all, on thine own… Though thou art chained to Hell itself!"

The black haired boy raised his head in response, new determination able to be seen through his gray eyes.

"Execute him!" Kamoshida ordered, and the knight thrust its arm back, preparing to stab Ryuji.

"That's enough, you figurehead!" Ren called out. This stopped Kamoshida and the knight short.

"What was that?" Kamoshida asked, sounding like he was not believing his ears.

"What's the matter? When someone dares to undermine your authority, you can't even bother to finish what you started?" Ren kept heckling, a confident smirk on his face, "I must say, my disappointment is immeasurable. You're a weak man that can't even bother to do anything yourself, you need these lackeys to do all your dirty work. I can't believe I was even afraid of you. It's just as I said, you're a figurehead. Come on, where's the real king?!"

The knight holding up Ryuji dropped him, letting him slide down the wall. Kamoshida began to approach Ren with a very angry look on his face "You dare mock me? Insult me, the king! Call me a figurehead?! I guess you really desire to be killed that much? I'll give you your wish! You clearly don't understand the power of a king, so I will not waste my efforts on scum like you. Knights, execute him!"

"Sorry, I have other plans." Ren responded. A wave of wind suddenly sprang up around him knocking back the knights who'd been holding him. He raised his head, revealing a white, almost birdlike domino mask. "I'm getting out of here, no matter what. I'm running late for school."

"Pah! You think that mask is gonna do anything to me, the king?" Kamoshida asked mockingly

"Go forth, Ren. You know what to do."

"You're gonna regret those words, figurehead." Ren taunted back, before he began to pull on the mask. As Ren kept pulling off more of the mask, the top of his face began to bleed. Ren winced and cried out from the pain, but he continued to preserve. The pain did not matter, only getting him and Ryuji out of there did. Finally, with one final shout, he ripped the rest of the mask off, along with what felt like part of his face. As blood gushed out and splattered the ground Ren's eyes suddenly turned yellow, and he matched it with a sinister smirk. Suddenly, blue flames engulfed the boy. The blood that was on Ren's face began to disappear, replaced by the blue flames taking shape, before they began consuming his entire body. Kamoshida and the knights stepped back in shock, while Ryuji, despite his gargled state, looked on in confusion and shock.

"Hahahahahaha!" Suddenly, the voice Ren had been talking to began to laugh, and the flames that had consumed him formed into a pair of orange, blazing eyes and a sinister smile. These areas intensified, before the flames left the teen, almost like they were becoming its own being. Ren was left unaffected, except now clad in a new outfit. He wore a black, ankle-length tailcoat, a high necked waistcoat with gold accents, black pants, dark boots and a pair of red gloves.

"Shall we begin, Arsene?" he asked with a sinister smirk. In response, the blue flames swirled and then dispersed, leaving behind a new, inhuman figure.

"We shall," Arsene spoke ominously. "I am the pillager of twilight- Arsene!"

It wore a very tall top hat, and covered its "face" with a long horned mask that had the orange eyes and mouth from earlier. The rest of Arsene's wardrobe felt like something that came out of the 19th century. It wore a top hat, a cropped red suit worn open with the collar popped, a white tie, what appeared to be red pants, and boots with blade like heels. One would think with all this it would more resemble a human, but it also bore clawed fingers and black, feathery wings. Arsene flapped those wings, knocking away the knights with a gust of wind, along with the one pinning Ryuji. As this was going on, Kamoshida and Ryuji looked on in complete disbelief.

"Huh, red gloves. My wardrobe really did change." Ren noted as he looked down at his gloves.

"Wh-What's going on?" Ryuji asked, rubbing his eyes, "Yo, Amamiya…did you just get a Stand?"

"I am the rebel's soul that resides within Ren," the being answered.

"Huh?" Ryuji tilted his head in confusion.

"I'll explain later." Ren promised. "Right now, we have to get out of here."

"Indeed. Although you may need to use my power to the fullest because I don't think those knights are down just yet. We're gonna have to deal with them, as well as that figurehead." Arsene pointed at the entrance of the cell, causing Ren to shift his gaze over there. Standing there was Kamoshida, who looked at the duo in a mix of confusion and rage.

"Who the hell are you?!" demanded the speedo-clad man.

"Are you a moron? I'm the guy you unfairly tossed into this prison and tried to execute. Does that not ring any bells, figurehead?" Ren mocked him with a smirk.

"You are really getting on my nerves. Kill him!" Kamoshida ordered, causing the knights to stand up. They all suddenly dispersed into black goo, before they popped back up into a new form, one resembling a jack o lantern ghost, if their heads were anything to go by. They each held a lantern in their hands, and wore a cloak and a witch hat.

"Huh, now that I look at your true forms, you're not so tough after all, huh?" Ren taunted. "It's showtime, Arsene!"

"Hahaha, yes! Let's go wild to our hearts content!" Arsene bellowed, before he disappeared. Ren's mask from earlier appeared back on his face. The three jack-o lanterns attacked Ren at the same time, but the young man jumped back near the left wall.

"Ravage them, Arsene! Eiha!" Ren called out, removing his mask. Arsene appeared once again. He put his hand to the ground. Suddenly, red and black energy appeared underneath one of the jack o lanterns, bursting forth. The jack-o lantern was consumed by the energy, screaming as it felt the pain from the attack, its body slowly being eviscerated. When the energy had finally dispersed and it was all over, there was nothing left of the creature. Ryuji and Kamoshida looked on in shock and awe at the raw power Ren had just displayed.

"S-Stop messing around! Just kill him!" Kamoshida yelled desperately.

"Getting desperate, are we?" Ren asked mockingly. "I'm afraid just shouting at your minions to do your dirty work isn't gonna cut it now. They weren't even actual knights. How disappointing."

"Shut your mouth!" Kamoshida shouted angrily. The two jack-o lanterns moved in the same direction this time, trying to hit Ren with their lanterns.

"You guys aren't too smart, huh? Arsene, Eiha!" Ren barked, putting a hand to his mask. Once again, Arsene hit the left jack-o-lantern with the same attack from earlier, once more destroying it in a single shot. However, this left the last one free to attack Ren with its lantern. If Ren didn't have something else up his sleeve, or in this case, his pocket. As the jack-o lantern lunged and was ready to swing his lantern at Ren, the Shujin student quickly pulled out something out of his coat pocket, a small knife. He used the knife to deflect the lantern strike, leaving the jack-o lantern momentarily reeling.

"I must say, for someone who is fighting for the first time, you're not half bad." Arsene complimented from inside Ren's mind.

'Well, it helps when you have a Persona inside your head directing you on what moves to make against these things.' Ren replied. 'Otherwise, I'd be like a chicken with its head cut off.'

"Merci. However, don't sell yourself short. You've executed my directives to the fullest. Be proud of that." Arsene assured.

'Thank you. Well, I don't need you for this last one. It's pretty simple, is it?"

"Correct."

'Well okay then.' Ren grinned, as he removed his mask for the third time "Eiha!" Arsene was summoned once again, and the persona delivered the one-shot blow to the last jack-o-lantern, as it was eviscerated just like the others had been. Ren switched focus to Ryuji, who was still against the other wall of the prison, and looked at Ren in complete disbelief.

"Okay, I know you said you would explain…this later, but I have to ask: what the F was that?!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"F?" Ren repeated "Not fuck?"

Before Ryuji could respond, beyond blushing slightly, Kamoshida stomped Ren, glaring at him with rage filled eyes. "You little…"

"Do your worst." Ren said, as he prepared to defend himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ryuji get up onto his feet. The blond boy charged at Kamoshida with a battle cry, tackling him to the ground. Ren also took note that the keys that one of the knights had had were lying on the floor as well. 'Huh, since that shadow was holding the key earlier, when I killed it, it must have dropped them as well since it was storing them, correct?'

"Correct. Shadows can store small objects inside themselves, so if you kill the Shadow, it will drop the item it was storing. In this case, the key," Arsene confirmed.

"You like that, you son of a bitch!?" Ryuji taunted, having gotten some payback form his torture earlier. Kamoshida appeared to be pretty dazed from the charge. Although, it probably would not take too long for him to recover and get up.

"Sakamoto, the key! Lock the door!" Ren called out to him, pointing at the keys.

Ryuji looked to where Ren was pointing. "Y-You mean this!?" he asked, to which Ren nodded. "Got it!" Ryuji swiped the keys on the ground and ran out of the prison cell, along with Ren. Once they were outside the cell, Ryuji closed the cell door and locked it. "Okay, it's locked!"

Ren sighed, as he pointed to Kamoshida who was just starting to get back up while nursing his skull. "Good, because a second late and he would have gotten back up." Kamoshida finally took in his new situation and charged at the two boys from behind the bars in rage.

"Damn you!" he snarled, tugging on the bars, although that was all he could really do, as he was now locked inside the his own prison cell.

"Alright, now can you tell me what the hell that was?" Ryuji asked. "You ripped off some mask that appeared on your face, you summoned whatever the hell that thing was, you fought actual monsters, and on top of that, your clothes changed too. What the F was that?!"

"Well…" Ren began, until suddenly in a quick flash of blue flame, his new getup disappeared, leaving him back in his school uniform, glasses and all. 'Uhhhh, is this supposed to happen? Why am I back in my uniform?'

"Mes excuses. It seems that you don't have full control of your power for some reason. Your powers should come back should you need to fight again, but right now you can't maintain your transformation for very long." Arsene explained.

'Is this normal?' asked Ren.

"From what I know? No. I think it might relate to you being a 'prisoner' for so long that since your rebel spirit has just come out, you will need to take some time to adjust," Arsene theorized.

'I guess that makes sense. Now one other thing…'

"I see you have noticed you can understand French now, oui?" Arsene asked rhetorically.

'Yeah, that's something I did not expect. Why am I able to understand French?' Ren inquired.

"Personas can give their users some extra benefits, such as the ability to understand and speak languages, although this varies on the legend the persona is based off of" Arsene answered, "For example, does the name Arsene ring a bell to you?"

'Arsene…Of course, Arsene Lupin! That's why I can understand French now!' Ren exclaimed in amazement.

"Correct." Arsene affirmed. "Your rebel soul just so happened to be related to the legend of Arsene Lupin."

'Oh shit, it must be since I live in a cafe called Leblanc.' Ren remembered.

"That is a very interesting coincidence." Arsene noted thoughtfully. "However, worry about that later. Right now, you must escape. Tu depeches!"

'Got it.' Ren nodded, getting out of his mental conversation with his Persona.

"Whoa, you went back to normal!?" The blond boy shouted in a bewildered tone.

Kamoshida harshly and violently tugged on the bars again, causing a loud clanging sound. "YOU BASTARDS!" he bellowed in rage.

"God, this is effin' nuts!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Trust me, as someone who now knows what the hell is going on, it's still pretty hard to take in." Ren sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The blond haired young man nodded. "Right, you lead the way." The duo began walking away from the jail cell. Ryuji made sure to throw the keys into the river that was flowing through the dungeon before following him.

"After them, don't let them escape!" The imprisoned man commanded from his cell. "You think you can get away with doing this to me!?"

"Yep. Bye, figurehead." Ren gave the king one last jab before he and Ryuji walked away from the prison, as they began their escape from the palace.

Needless to say, the information the newly minted persona user gave to Ryuji as they navigated through the prison was…pretty hard to take in.

"Alright, so let me get this straight. So what you used back there is called a…Persona?" Ryuji asked for what felt like the millionth time as they were walking to another section of the castle.

"Yes." Ren answered

"And Personas are this 'will of rebellion' or whatever that you use to fight shadows, which is what those things pumpkin monsters were, right?"

"Yes. They're technically called Crypt Dwelling Pyromaniacs, but I just call them Jack-o-lantern ghosts."

"And the reason why your clothes changed is because it's your image of rebelling and stuff, right?"

"Yes."

"And right now, we are in a 'Palace,' which is in this other world called the Metaverse, and it's here because of Kamoshida?"

"Pretty much."

"This is so confusin'!" The blond exclaimed in frustration.

"Shhhh! Not so loud. Don't want the knights to hear us." The blond young man rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I know, it is pretty hard to believe." The black haired young man admitted. "I would have thought something like this came out of a science fiction manga or something."

"Wouldn't it technically be supernatural?" Ryuji queried.

"Maybe, if you consider shadows supernatural beings and the way we got here to be unscientific." Ren replied.

"Yeah, come to think of it, how did we get here?"

"Arsene has a theory, but until we get out of here, I'm not going to verify it." The persona user answered with a sigh.

The boys had navigated the prison so far via jumping on metal crates planted in the river, crawling through a vent in a jail cell, and climbing a massive flight of curved stairs, similar to what you would find in a prison tower in a regular castle, before reaching yet another area of the prison. Needless to say, it has not been an easy journey for them so far. As Ren and Ryuji continued to walk, Ryuji stopped.

"H-Hey, look." The blond teen stuttered, pointing at something. Ren followed where he was pointing, and his jaw fell open. Hanging over the water where Ryuji was pointing were two cages, each holding two boys. Most of the boys were slumped against the cage, while there was a lone boy holding his arm out of the cage, groaning and moaning in pain. "So we really did hear people screamin'. We ain't the only ones who got captured! Umm, is he…okay?"

"I'll explain this later, but don't worry about them for now." Ren ordered. "Just think of it as another trait of palaces."

Ryuji shrugged "I don't really get it, but if you say so." Both boys continued straight near the river, ignoring the caged boys.

'Thanks for transferring that information to me, otherwise I might have been tempted to get those guys out of there.' Ren thanked his persona.

"De rein. It is pretty handy for us personas to be able to transfer information like that within a second."

'Also doesn't make me like Kamoshida one bit,' The black haired teen thought, clenching his fist. The bird masked teen then noticed a drawbridge straight ahead of them. "Hey, Sakamoto-san, there's a drawbridge up ahead!" As he jogged over to it, he noticed that there was also a statue of Kamoshida beside the drawbridge. Sticking out of the statue's crown was a chain. 'Strange, why is there a random statue next to a drawbridge? And why is there a chain sticking out of the crown?' Ren wondered. Ryuji had made it to the drawbridge shortly after, but he noticed that the blond was limping in his right leg as he sprinted up to him. The black haired young man decided it would be a good idea to ask what was wrong. "Hey, your leg. Did something happen?"

Ryuji looked away, though Ren noticed a conflicted look on his face, despite the blond young man's best attempts to hide it. "I'll tell you later. It ain't something I can just…talk about, you know?"

"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have brought it up," the black haired teen apologized.

"It's fine." It was then the blond took notice of the Kamoshida statue. "Wow, you weren't kiddin' when you said Kamoshida created this place. These random statues of himself are something he would want."

"I don't see a way to get this drawbridge down. Come on, let's look for another path."

The blond nodded, and the boys continued down the path ahead of them. However, they came across a dead end, with only one cell, a wall, and a bunch of crates.

"Another dead end." Ryuji sighed in exasperation, as the duo did not seem to have a way out of this prison.

"Hey, over here." a voice called.

"Huh? Did you hear that?" asked Ren.

"Yeah. Where'd it come from?"

"Blondie! Frizzy hair! Look over here!" the voice urged.

"Someone's in this cell. Let's check this out." The black haired teen decided.

"Amamiya, are you sure? What if they're an enemy?"

"If they are, I can just fight them off if need be. But I don't think Kamoshida would put someone who serves him inside a prison cell, and if they got locked in the way we did, we can team up to get out of here. Hell, they might know how to get out of here."

"Okay, Amamiya right? You have a good head on your shoulders," the voice praised him.

"Yeah, I can't argue with that logic." Ryuji shrugged. The boys approached the prison cell and jumped back in surprise at what they saw. Inside the cell, standing at one foot and eight inches tall was an anthropomorphic, bipedal, cat-like creature with a large spherical head. Its fur was predominantly black, except on the limbs, tail, and mouth, which were white. It had a pair of large blue eyes that encompassed most of its face. Finally, it wore a mask that covered most of its face, almost like Ren's, except for ears and a yellow scarf around his neck, along with a utility belt.

"What is this thing!?" demanded Ryuuji in disbelief.

"You're not soldiers of this castle, right!? Get me out of here!" the feline pleaded. The cat used its left paw to point at a key lying on the ground near Ren. "Look, the key is over there!"

"Do you have a way to get us the hell out of here?" asked Ryuji.

"Yeah, I do!" the mysterious cat declared, "In fact, I know where the exit is!"

"...You're a cat?" The persona user asked, perplexed by this creature.

"I am NOT a cat!" The 'not' cat hissed. "Say that again and I'll make you regret it!" Suddenly, there were the sounds of the familiar stomps of the knights not too far from their current location. They seemed to be sprinting this time, their stomps getting louder and louder, indicating they were getting closer.

'Crap, if we spend too much time here, we could get thrown in a prison cell again.' Ren thought with slight panic.

"You wouldn't normally have to worry about that if you could fight those things alone." The persona pointed out. "However…"

'With Sakamoto-san with me, I've had to avoid fights up until now. I'd have liked to continue to try out my powers and try to brute force my way out, but if I fight against a horde of them, not only could they be stronger than those jack-o lanterns, but if one of them takes Sakamoto-san hostage, the situation gets too dicey.' Ren finished.

"They're catchin' up already!" Ryuji exclaimed in a low voice, clearly more panicked than Ren was. He pulled out his cell phone, most likely to try to call someone "Shit, there's still no service. Ain't there any way to contact someone in the real world!?"

The persona user gave the blond a blank look "How? We're in another world."

The blond young man slapped his forehead "Point taken."

"Come on, let's get him out." The black haired boy decided "You better not be lying though, I can fight."

"I never go back on my word!" The bipedal cat responded with enthusiasm and a hint of smugness.

"Why? Because it's your nindo?" Ren deadpanned, causing Ryuji to hold back a snort.

"Hey!" the cat exclaimed, clearly not liking that joke, its ears twitching in anger. If Ren had to be honest, he found it somewhat cute.

"To be honest, Amamiya-san, this thing sounds like it's all talk…" The blond pointed out.

"Yeah, but there's no harm in bringing him along, especially if he can help us. Plus, I'd feel guilty for leaving someone to rot in a cell like that." Ren explained, as he went over to where the feline had pointed to search for the key.

"Fine." The blond agreed, albeit reluctantly.

"You're an upstanding guy!" the cat praised, pumping its right paw. Ren quickly found the key and unlocked the cell, freeing the cat from its prison. The cat took a few steps out of the cell, before stretching its paws over its head with a joyful sigh. "Ahh…freedom tastes so great…"

"Now, where's the exit, you monster cat?!" Ryuji demanded, most likely still having some doubt about how capable this cat was.

"Don't call me a cat! I am Morgana!" the now named Morgana snapped. Suddenly, sounds of the knights' stomping appeared again, only louder this time, indicating they were getting closer to the trio's location.

"S-Shuddup and hurry it up!" Ryuji urged in a panic, "You wanna be locked up again!?"

Morgana recoiled "A-All right, I get it! Sheesh!" Then the bipedal feline smiled. "Follow me, and be very quiet." The Shujin students complied, but they didn't have to go very far, as Morgana stopped right in front of the statue Ren had taken notice of earlier.

"What are you doing?" The blond boy inquired.

"What does it look like? I'm lowering the drawbridge." Morgana answered. The feline turned to Ren. "You, Amamiya-san. It seems like you pick up on things faster than our Blondie over here. Try checking around the mouth of this statue, okay?"

"Alright," the persona user replied, as he followed Morgana's instruction. He checked the mouth, and noticed something when he got to the bottom lip. 'Wait, I think I can pull this down,' he realized, as he slightly tugged on the bottom lip. Ren pulled on it as far as he could. The mouth opened and the statue's eyes glowed yellow. A mechanism started, as the chain inside Kamsohida's crown started to go up. The two parts of the drawbridge started to lower with a rapid rattling of chains. 'Huh, so things like this exist in palaces. Did you know about these, Arsene?'

"I do, but I don't know every secret to individual palaces. I only know the essentials. Each palace has different characteristics, and different secrets, it all depends on the person. I felt there might have been a connection there to the statue and the drawbridge, but I couldn't tell you what it was."

'I see. I'll have to make sure I keep that in mind and check for any possible secrets within a palace,' the black haired persona user noted, 'If I ever decide to come back here.'

"Knowing you, you probably will, oui?"

The teen sighed. 'Part of me is wondering if it is a good idea to get involved. To be honest, I want to just try to live my life at a new school the best I can. However…I also don't want to sit by and ignore what this man could be doing behind closed doors. Those guys in those cages were clearly Shujin students, and while they aren't real, it is a reflection of what Kamoshida could be doing to them in real life, right?'

"Yes. We don't know the exact details of what he is doing to those students, but it is clear he is abusing them if this is how he sees them. I do have a feeling that might not be the worst of it though."

'Neither do I, and that's another reason I don't want to get too involved in this. I have a feeling whatever I find this guy is doing will have me boiling mad.'

"How were we supposed to know to do that!?" Ryuji asked, annoyed.

"Hmph, amateur. Come on, let's keep going!" Morgana ordered, and the cat trotted across the drawbridge, with Ryuji and Ren following him. As they made it to the other side, Ren noticed a door to the right open, and out came two knights.

"A-ah! Shit…Shit, it's them! The shadows!" The blond teen cried out, as he fell to the ground in surprise and fear.

'Crap, I don't think we can get ourselves out of fighting these two.' The black haired teen thought as he clicked his teeth. Suddenly, blue flames quickly enveloped him again, and he was back in his new outfit from before, mask and all. 'Good thing I can fight now.' The bird masked young man took a battle stance, ready to fight these knights himself.

"Tch, you amateur! Stay Still!" The not-cat admonished the blond, as it jumped over him and took a battle stance too, ready to fight alongside Ren. "Looks like you can fight. Let's go!"

"Oh, you have one too?" The teen queried.

"Of course someone as awesome as I am would have one!" the feline scoffed smugly, "Let's go! Come on! Zorro!" A burst of blue flames and energy flared from the cat, a bright flash blinding both students for the moment. Hovering above the cat was yet another persona. This one wore complete black leather clothing from top to bottom, except for the face, which bore a black metal mask. It had a silver belt over its torso that had the letter Z emblazoned on it. Over its shoulders, it dawned a black cape. Finally, it wielded a rapier, which it promptly swung quickly in the shape of the letter Z, before sheathing it.

"So this is your persona? I hate to admit it, but it looks efffin' cool." Ryuji complemented from his spot on the ground.

"Huh, so you're not a complete amateur. You at least have some knowledge." Morgana acknowledged with a grin.

"Well, Amamiya had to explain it to me, and while it's still confusin', I sorta get it…" The blond teen replied, rubbing the back of his head. Suddenly, the two knights began to transform into their shadow forms, revealing another jack-o-lantern ghost and a medium-sized, pinkish devil creature with wings, both floating in the air.

"Hmph, we will promptly shut them up!" The cat declared "Let's do this, Amamiya…actually, what's your first name?"

"Ren," the domino-masked fighter answered, "If it makes it easier for you, just call me that. I'm not too big on formalities anyway."

"Alright then, let's do this Ren!" Morgana exclaimed. "These shadows aren't just interested in capturing us, it seems they're out for blood. I'm curious to see what you've got. Go take the first move, show me what you can do!"

The young man responded with a savage grin. "With pleasure! Arsene! Eiha!" He took off his mask and summoned Arsene, firing the curse attack at the jack-o-lantern ghost, hoping to get a quick kill on the creature like he did last time. The attack connected, the cursed energy enveloping the pumpkin creature like last time. However, unlike last time, when the attack was finally over, the creature wasn't eviscerated like its fallen brothers. It was dazed, shaking, but still standing, or floating. 'Huh? How did that not kill it?'

"Good question. Maybe it's stronger compared to the other pyromaniacs we fought. Although, it will go down with one more attack based on its current condition."

'Yeah, you're right.' Ren nodded, as he prepared to strike again.

"Hah! I knew you were an amateur!" Morgana mocked the black haired young man. "Now, watch this! Zorro, Garu!" The feline called his persona, and the persona fired a column of wind at the jack-o-lantern. It cried out in pain, and disappeared entirely, clearly having been eviscerated by that attack. Ren took notice immediately of the devil shadow seemingly stunned for some reason. Zorro disappeared back into Morgana afterwards.

"Wait, was that jack-o-lantern weak to wind?" Ren asked.

"Yep! And the best part is I can strike again because that attack would normally down a Shadow." Morgana stated enthusiastically, "Remember this, Ren! Strike at an enemy's weakness to knock them down! Then use that opening to strike again! Zorro, come forth again! Garu!" The cat called forth its persona again, firing a column of air at the devil creature. It was pushed back from the attack, still upright. The devil shadow targeted Ren, flying over to him, and tried to strike the teen with a flying kick, however, the black haired persona user quickly avoided that.

"Oi, Morgana." Ren uttered. Morgana switched his focus to the teen, awaiting what he was about to say. "Don't call people amateurs when you have an elemental advantage. Let me show you the move I got after beating those Jack-o-lanterns. Arsene! Cleave!" The curse element persona was summoned once more, however, this time, the persona slashed at the devil shadow with its claws. The attack connected, and the shadow was pushed back, clutching its chest in pain. It then started to breathe heavily and looked dazed. "You gonna finish it off, or are you just all talk?"

"I'll show you who's all talk." The not-cat replied with a cocky grin. "Zorro, Garu!" The persona appeared once more, and fired yet another column of wind at the devil shadow. The creature was enveloped by the wind, and cried out for the last time before it completely dissipated. "Ha! I'm awesome!" The feline boasted happily. He turned back to Ren. "I must say, you're not bad. Your Persona is pretty powerful. You also seem to have pretty good combat senses."

"Thank you. That is my persona mostly doing the work. We communicate with each other and he gives me the best way to defeat shadows." The teen clarified.

"I see. I can't do that with my persona. But frankly, I don't need it. I'm naturally good at fighting shadows. I'm just that awesome!"

"Yeah, you're so good at fighting, you got caught and had to be rescued by us." The black haired young man remarked sarcastically.

"Hey! I can explain that! I was cheaply surrounded by the enemy and they overwhelmed me!"

"Yeah, well so were we!" Ryuji chimed in. "We didn't even have a Persona to defend ourselves until this guy awakened it when I was about to get executed. What the hell's your excuse?"

"W-Well I…give up." Morgana sagged in defeat. Suddenly, Ren's transformation wore off, and he was back in his regular attire again. "Whoa, you don't seem to have control of your transformation yet, huh?"

"Yeah." The teen admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "It might have something to do with my past or something. Arsene doesn't think the problem should last long though. Just something I have to deal with for now."

"I see. Come on, Ren, Blondie, let's keep going." The feline urged. "We don't need to be running into any more guards, right?"

"Quit callin' me blondie!" Ryuji snapped. "My name is Ryuji!"

"Fine, whatever." The cat Persona user grumbled. "Let's just go. But before that, take these." He handed Ren some medicine bottles, although these ones had no labels to speak of.

"What are these for?" The blond haired teen asked.

"These are for healing stamina and endurance." The black haired teen explained. "Normally, in the real world, you use medicine to help heal yourself from whatever ailment you have, right?"

"Uhhh…yeah?" The blond answered hesitantly, not seeing where this was going.

"Well, since we are in this world…" Morgana added. "Medicine can heal us in a similar fashion in this world, although the effect is instantaneous and doesn't heal any random disease we have. Just take this medicine, and you're good to go."

"Wow, that sounds pretty stinkin' cool." The blond haired young man said with a childlike fascination.

"It is, Ryuji." The cat nodded. "Alright, let's go, we shouldn't be too far from the exit. We just have to go straight from here for now" The boys nodded and continued down the path towards the exit. They went up a small flight of stone stairs, and continued walking down the gray bricked prison, before they encountered another drawbridge. Ren discovered another Kamoshida statue on the right.

"We're in the home stretch. Just pull on that statue and you'll be home free." Morgana informed the teen.

"Got it." The black haired young man began to step towards the statue when…

"Hold on a sec, guys!" Ryuji called out. Ren saw the blond staring at the prison cell on the left of the drawbridge. It contained a lone teenager in some type of school sports/gym uniform, flat on the ground and groaning in discomfort. "I feel like I've seen what this dude's wearin' before…"

"Sakamoto-san." The black haired young man spoke up. "That is a Shujin student, right?"

"Shujin student…" Ryuji trailed off, before he gasped in realization. "Wait, that's right! It's our gym uniform!"

"Come on, let's go!" the not-cat insisted, not seeming to care about the student who seemed to clearly be in pain.

"Huh? But the guy is…"

"Look, Sakamoto-san, as much as I would normally like to help someone in need, we can't help this guy. He's not real, he's just something created by Kamoshida." The black haired persona user explained.

"Wait, what?" Ryuji asked, clearly confused.

"You know how I told you Kamoshida is the reason this palace exists?" Ren inquired to which the blond haired young man nodded. "Well, Kamoshida created people in his palace based on how he sees them or treats them in the real world."

The blond paused for a few seconds before it seemed like something clicked for him. His expression hardened. "So, he sees this guy as someone to work to the bone and abuse like this, right?"

"Possibly." The black haired young man confirmed. "How these guys end up is a representation of how Kamoshida treats them in the real world, and if whatever he is doing here is affecting them this much, well, you can imagine how he would treat them in the real world."

"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji seethed, enraged from hearing that bombshell.

"Hey, I understand your frustration, but keep it down." The cat ordered. "We don't need some guards to hear-"

"There!" A voice called. The drawbridge came down, and on the other side were yet another two knights. The two knights went across the bridge, coming after the trio.

"You should've listened to me." Morgana scolded Ryuji, clearly not happy about this situation.

"Sorry." The blond apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh well. We can take these guys on. Let's fight!" Ren proposed, as he transformed again.

"You read my mind." The cat persona user agreed, as he got ready to fight. The knights transformed, this time into two small pixies, each with a set of small fairy wings, reddish hair and wore blue gloves, boots, and a leotard.

"Hmm, it might be safe to use Eiha against these two." Arsene suggested.

'Alright, I'll do it.' Ren complied, as he took off his mask. "Eiha!" Arsene was summoned once again, and a column of cursed energy burst forth on one of the pixies. The attack completely eviscerated the first pixie, while the second pixie was left stunned.

"Ren! They're weak to Curse!" Arsene exclaimed.

The teen sported a savage grin. 'Payback time, Morgana.' The young man ripped off his mask, and summoned Arsene once again. "Eiha!" Curse energy burst forth once again out of the ground, and like the first pixie, the second was eviscerated just the same. Ren turned to Morgana, who's eyes were looking at him in disbelief. "So, who's the amateur now?" Ren asked with a smug grin on his face.

"Hey, don't call anybody an amateur when you have the elemental advantage!" Morgana retorted with a grin.

The domino-masked fighter raised an eyebrow "Trying to throw my own words back at me, huh?"

"It's only fair. However, I have to admit, that was pretty good." The cat held out his paw, in the form of a fist.

"Thank you." The young man responded, returning the gesture, as both cat and human fist bumped each other.

"Let's get away before more show up!" The not-cat commanded.

"Right. Come on, Sakamoto-san."

Ryuji gazed at the lone man in the prison cell. His fist clenched before he exhaled "All right. I'm coming." The blond haired teen started walking over to them, as he followed Ren and Morgana. The trio walked across the second. They encountered a wooden door on the left, and opened it. As the trio walked out, The black haired teen noticed the chandelier that they had seen when they first entered the palace a few feet away. The only barrier standing between them and freedom was another small flight of stairs.

"The entrance hall is right above here. The exit's close…Keep it up!" Morgana encouraged, as he ran up the stairs. The students followed him up the stairs, and were greeted by the entrance hall once more. Ren saw the doors to the entrance, and was tempted to make a break for it. However…"That door is locked!" Morgana called out from a few feet away. "Come over here, there's another way out of here!"

"Got it!" Ren nodded, as he and Ryuji followed the cat to another section of the entrance hall, a small hallway with two doors on the opposite sides of the hallway.

"We're here." Morgana stated. The cat was in front of the door on the left.

"Finally, we're saved!" Ryuji cried out in jubilation, before going to the door on the right, and tried to open it. "Ngh…It's not openin'!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Uh, dude. Morgana's in front of this door." The black haired young man deadpanned, pointing at the door on the left. "Why would that door be the exit? Especially since it's not even close to where we entered."

"He's right, it's this one." The cat chimed in, pointing to the door on the left.

The blond boy slapped his forehead. "My bad." Ren opened the door, and the trio encountered a room with some torches and red flags with Kamoshida's face on them on each side. There were also three bookshelves and two vents above them. Finally, a small table with some chairs near the entrance to the room. "Where are we supposed to get out from here!? There aren't even any windows!" The blond teen demanded.

"Ugh, amateur…" Morgana groaned. "This is the most basic of basics."

'Basic of basics? What does he…' Ren's eyes widened in realization. "Wait! A ventilation shaft!"

"That's right! As I thought, you're a natural at this!" The feline praised. "It leads all the way outside!"

"I see…Then we just gotta get that metallic mesh off!" The blond concluded. "I got this!" He climbed up the left book shelf, and stood on top of it. He put his hands on the metal mesh of the vent. "And a one…And a two…and a pull!" Ryuji pulled on the metal mesh, but it was much easier than he expected it to be. He lost his balance, and he, along with the metal mesh, fell off the bookshelf, landing on his back with a thud, and a clang from the metal mesh.

"That moron." Morgana mumbled, to which Ren couldn't help but sigh in agreement.

"Look on the brightside, at least he got it off." The black haired teen said weakly.

"Oww…" The blond young man groaned, as he got up nursing his back. "Crap! The enemy didn't hear us, did they?"

"If they did, it's too late, since we're getting out of here." The black haired persona user stated.

"Seriously!? Finally!" The blond haired teen cried out, pumping his fists in celebration.

"You should hold out on celebrating until you actually get out." Morgana advised. "Now, get going."

"Wait, what about you?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, aren't you coming with us?" Ryuji added.

The not-cat shook his head. "There's something I still have to do. We're going our separate ways."

The black haired teen paused for a second, before smiling "If that's the case, thank you. And don't get caught again."

"Heh, you better be careful too. And you're welcome." Morgana put out his paw again, and Ren fist bumped it once again.

"Thank you." Ryuji said gratefully. Both the blond and cat fist bumped each other. "See ya."

The cat waved goodbye. "See ya."

Both boys climbed up the bookshelf and entered the vent. After around thirty seconds, the teens knocked out another metal mesh and were finally outside the palace.

"Okay. We're out. Now, how do we get back to the real world?" Ryuji asked.

"Arsene says we have to leave the area the Palace is in. So we need to leave the school zone. " Ren answered.

"So we'll be back in the real world after that?"

"Yeah, we will." The teen answered with a nod.

"Alright, let's hurry, before the knight, shadows, or whatever look out here for us." The blond urged, as he began running through the alley they had come from, with Ren following, as fast as he could.

With a flash of a reddish light, after running all through the alleyways to get away form the school, Ryuji and Ren were finally out of the Metaverse. Ryuji was breathing heavily from all the running, while Ren was a bit winded himself. The Persona user looked around, and the sky and world around them seemed to be normal, as there was no longer a purple tint.

"Are we…back in the real world?" The blond asked, still somewhat out of breath, and some worry in his tone.

Before the black haired young man could even try to answer, a notification went off on his phone. Ren brought it out of his pocket, unlocked it, and heard a voice through his phone, similar to that of a GPS. "You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."

The blond young man sighed in relief. "Well, I guess that answers my question."

'And it also confirms Arsene's theory that my phone might have had something to do with it.'

"I'm glad I could be of assistance to you. Once I had searched through your memories of how you got here, it was easy for me to pinpoint a possible reason for how you got here."

'Yeah, but now the question is…' Ren began as he started scrolling through his phone. 'How did-' the new Persona user's eyes widened when he saw that same damn app still on his phone. The red eye app, the one he had been trying to get rid of for the past two days. 'It's still here?"

"Hmm, tres interessant. Now, when did you get this app, Ren?"

'It was…when I first arrived here in Tokyo.' The teen began, trying his best to recall everything about this app. 'Time itself seemed to stop when at the city square and then I saw a vision, then when it was over, I saw this creepy red eye app, and immediately deleted it. But it just came back, no matter what I did. Come to think of it, a lot of this weird stuff…' He nearly let out a gasp in shock. 'Wait a minute, could this app have been the reason we were sent to the Metaverse?!

"It very well could be. There are no other apps on your phone that could cause you to go there, right?"

'Yeah, otherwise there would probably be a massive scandal.' Ren agreed. It was then the so-called delinquent finally noticed the time on his phone. "Crap." he said out loud unintentionally.

"What? What's wrong?" Ryuji asked, concerned.

"We're over an hour late." The black haired teen revealed.

The blond took a step back, then slumped. "Shit. We're dead."

The so-called delinquent rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I can probably come up with an explanation for why we were late."

"Really? What'cha gonna say? That we got transported to another world to fight Kamoshida and almost died. Oh yeah, and we had help from a weird talking cat?!" The blond young man asked sarcastically.

The Persona user shook his head. "Hell no. No one in the world's gonna buy that. I'm sure I could think of something if I talked with Arsene though."

"Wait! You can still hear him in the real world?!" The blond exclaimed out loud, causing some people to look at the duo strangely.

"Okay, first of all, keep your voice down." Ren scolded, to which Ryuji returned an apologetic smile. "And second, yeah, he doesn't just disappear, he stays with me. He's a part of me after all."

"Guess there goes my last hope of hoping all of this was just a weird hallucination." The blond young man sighed

"Trust me, as much as I would want to dismiss this myself, I can't." The black haired young man admitted. The possible secrets Kamoshida was hiding in his palace were very concerning.

"Hey, you two!" a voice called. The Shujin students shifted their attention to the source of the voice, and Ren cursed his luck and tensed up slightly, as there were two police officers approaching them. The first was on foot, while the second officer was holding a bike. "Are you two students of Shujin? Cutting class are we?" the first officer asked

"Huh? No!" Ryuji denied quickly. "Ummm…"

'Ugh, he's not gonna be able to think of a good lie.' Ren thought as he facepalmed. 'At least not on the spot like this.'

"It would be wise for you to take over the conversation."

'I know, but what the hell do I say?'

"You're a country boy who just got here and doesn't know your way around the subway system?"

'Duh. Can't believe I didn't think of that.' The black haired teen mentally scolded himself before speaking up. "I'm very sorry, officer." the so-called delinquent began. "I was lost on my way here."

"Lost for an hour?" the officer with the bike questioned.

"Yeah. You see, I'm a new transfer student from the country, and I just moved here to the city. Where I'm from, we don't have any subways, so on my way to find the Ginza Line, I got lost. Then I accidentally got on the wrong train. By the time I realized that, it was too late." Ren finished his explanation with a bow. "I promise it will not happen again, officers." Ren took a glance back to Ryuji, who was staring at him incredulously.

The two officers shared a look, before the first officer spoke up "Okay, we understand. Just don't pull this again. But what about your friend over there?"

Before Ren could even try to think of another lie, Ryuji beat him to the punch. "I was just late. That's all there is to it."

"Is that all you have to say?" the first officer asked.

"Yeah. I just happened to meet this guy on the way. He seemed lost, so I was about to help him." The blond teen lied.

"Well, you boys best be on your way to school." the officer on the bike advised.

"We will." the Shujin students promised. Ren and Ryuji began walking away from the officers and back through the shortcut again. Nothing was gonna happen to them this time. Hopefully.

"I gotta admit, that was a great lie." Ryuji complemented Ren. "How'd you come up with it?"

"Thanks. I was a bit tense at first, but once Arsene gave me the idea, and I just ran with it." The black haired teen admitted.

"Why were you tense?" The blond haired young man wondered.

"I'll explain it to you later. Don't worry about it now Sakamo-"

"Ryuji." The blond corrected. "I don't give a shit about formalities or honorifics myself. Especially with a friend. Just call me Ryuji." He put out his fist.

The Persona user smiled. "Alright. Then call me Ren." he said while returning the gesture.

"Got it." The blond haired teen nodded. The boys continued their journey to their school, a new friendship having been forged.

?

"So let me get this straight." Sae began, hoping for some clarification. She had been rubbing her temple due to the absurdity of Ren's story, and he could not blame her one bit. "You not only encountered Kamoshida's palace by accident because of this app on your phone, but you awakened these powers from this 'Persona,' in hopes of protecting this 'comrade' of yours."

"Yes." Ren nodded.

"And with the help of a talking cat, you and your 'comrade' escaped that 'Palace'."

"That's right."

"Do I look dumb to you?" The woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course not. You're smart and beautiful after all." The young man answered with a teasing grin.

The silver haired woman's cheeks flushed slightly. "C-Can you continue please?!"

"Depends on if you're gonna believe me or not." The flirt responded.

"Can you blame me?"

"Absolutely not. If I hadn't had Arsene tell me how the Metaverse worked and had I not been able to communicate with him, I would have thought it was all one big hallucination. However, that day and all my experiences since then are proof that all this is real. If you can accept the possibility of another world, then you should be able to accept all of this as well."

The woman sighed. "Alright, fine. You're right. I'll believe you. Please, continue."

With a nod, The teen continued his tale "After having to come up with that lie, we got to the school, and I'd say this was the beginning of when Kamoshida became our first target…"

4/11

Chapter End

Well, that was definitely not where I wanted to end, but I kinda had no choice. I forgot how fucking long this section of the game is, even though it probably should not. I'd also like to add that I had to cut some stuff to make this chapter a bit easier to digest. And I still ended up with 13K+ words. Yeah. Next chapter is the chapter I hope I can start getting out of this early game hell and actually capitalize more on the changes I'm making to this story. If not, well…Anyways, I'm pretty sure within the next 2 or 3 chapters we're about to hit the Shiho incident. You know what I'm talking about. I'm being very clear: She will be saved and she will not be raped. There is an attempt, because Kamoshida is a shithead, but that's all there is. Now, I am going to present with two options for how you guys want the aftermath of this to play out. Keep in mind as well, I am keeping spoilers to a minimum as possible for now, so these are just basic summaries

Shiho calls Ann immediately after the attempt, and she and Ren will end up comforting her, and Ren's resolve to stop Kamoshida increases

Shiho keeps to herself and feels trapped after the attempt, and will attempt to do what she did in canon. Ren, after finding her with the help of an improved Third Eye, will talk her out of it.

Now, I'll be clear about this and say, no, if you pick option A, Third Eye won't be improved upon. However, how significant that is can be determined by which option you pick. And for those who wondered where I got that idea from, it's because we have seen Third Eye able to be used outside the Metaverse, but it only highlights confidants. I'll let you figure out the rest. See you all next time for chapter 3. Also, if you are a Konosuba fan, check out my new fic Cursed Blessing on this Wonderful World. Have a good day everyone!