Good Day Readers! Obviously, I do not own anything connected to the Persona series in general or Persona 5 specifically, I DO own Chiba Natsumi and Anais Ouvrard, along with Natsumi's immediate family members and the original Personas that will be showing up on occasion.
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.
Chapter 42: - The Forger of Vanity, Azazel
The next day, all of us gathered at the café and quickly took our seats at the ground floor booth. I had made sure that Niijima-senpai wasn't around before approaching the others who were already there. None of us ordered anything since we were much too tense to even try and actually consume anything whether it was food or drink.
"We can now take him down, yes?" Yusuke asked. I could practically feel Yusuke vibrating with energy even though he sat directly across from me beside Ann; if anyone was eager to take down Madarame then it would obviously be Yusuke, but it seemed that he was desperately trying to keep himself as controlled as possible to ensure he gave nothing away.
"Madarame's going to be a changed man," Morgana reassured. He was sat beside Ren but on top of the boy's bag so that we could all see the cat who looked so statuette like with his positioning. "There won't be any way to reverse it though. Are you sure you're okay with that?" Morgana asked. His intense blue eyes were focused directly upon Yusuke, we certainly needed the boy to be on board with this decision before going ahead with it.
"I have thought it over carefully and I cannot think of a future in which he does not pay his due. He has preyed not only on the art world but on countless talents… so, I humbly request your help," Yusuke reassured. At least we had the boy's support in going through with the plan to change Madarame's heart, though he certainly sounded very formal when he asked for our help.
"Alright then," Ren commented. He seemed to relax slightly upon hearing those words from our newest member, Yusuke proceeded to apologise for 'making' us do this. "Yusuke, we were going to do this anyway. Nakanohara asked us to stop him," Ren admitted. Yusuke looked down at that with a sad expression, I wish there was something I could say to brighten the boy's mood, but I was drawing a blank on how to do that.
"Yeah, no need to apologise. We just didn't want to impose if you weren't feeling up to it, Yusuke," Ann added. She reached out and gently patted his hand which succeeded in bringing the boy's head back up as his sad expression faded away. "But if you're already determined to do it, then there's nothing more for us to say," Ann insisted.
"If I recall, our next step is sending a calling card, correct? What a suave manoeuvre," Yusuke commented. He seemed intrigued by our method of working but he needed to understand that the calling card wasn't a flashy move to attract attention; I looked at Morgana who gave me a nod of his head as if telling me to go ahead with telling Yusuke about the need for the calling card in his place.
"The letter is an important step. By sending one, we're forcibly changing our target's cognition in order to materialise the goal. You saw the state it was in yesterday, that hazy form renders it untouchable to anything, so we need our target to believe his distorted desire is something solid," I explained. Yusuke gripped his chin as he seemed to be thinking something through with some intensity.
"A change in cognition, that reminds me, you went through some trouble regarding that before," Yusuke pointed out. He released his grip upon his chin and proceeded to look at us, there was really only one incident that he could be talking about due to how we had a significant issue with resolving that particular obstacle.
"Ah, you must be talking about when we forced open that security gate in the courtyard." Morgana realised. Yusuke nodded his head to show that he was correct, but how to go about explaining it, Yusuke was a fairly smart individual but if we accidentally mess things with the wording then he might not understand it. I tried to think of how to structure this so that Yusuke would certainly understand.
"The challenge is a cognitive world, so changing its' Ruler's cognition changes the topography!" Ann explained. I snapped my head up to look at the girl, surprised that she managed to find such a good way to explain the situation, then again, she did have a decent grasp of languages so it might make communication easier. "I think," Ann added on. That was perfect description to use for what we were doing.
"That's actually a good way to sum it up Ann-chan. Remembering that fact will be a vital tool in future challenges," I admitted. Yusuke also seemed to understand what Ann had been saying but his eyes darkened suddenly and I wondered what he could possibly be thinking about to cause such an expression to take residence upon his face.
"Actually, may I ask a truly basic question?" Yusuke wondered. All of us focused upon him, intrigued by what he had to ask. "You continue to mention cognition quite readily, but why does this world formed from materialised cognitions even exist to begin with? Don't tell me… has it always existed, while we go about our daily lives completely oblivious?" Yusuke wondered. Talk about a loaded question.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Morgana admitted. Yusuke focused upon the cat as he seemed very interested in the answer that might be provided. "At the very least, I know it existed before the Kamoshida incident… but that's all," Morgana answered. Yusuke proceeded to turn his attention to me, I could already tell that he was silently asking me if I happened to know anymore.
"I wish I knew," I admitted. And that was the truth, I truly didn't understand how the world of cognition even came to be only that it did exist alongside our own. "I was trained by people who understood this madness on a level we never could, but even they seemed confused as to why these worlds of the mind exist. All I can tell you is that the Metaverse is only the newest incarnation of such a place," I admitted.
"Natsumi, that's a little terrifying to hear," Ryūji admitted. I looked over at the boy and saw a pinched expression of fear resting on his face, I proceeded to look at the others and found expressions of concern and worry resting upon each of their faces; it was probably best that I reassure him that those worlds wouldn't be causing a problem for us.
"Don't be spooked, those places don't exist anymore. We aren't the first team of our kind to encounter these worlds and fight back, others came before us and succeeded in dispersing those worlds," I reassured. All of them, including Morgana, seemed to visibly deflate with relief at knowing that we wouldn't run into the other worlds suddenly.
"It's kinda weird thinkin' there might be whole world we just don't know a damn thing about," Ryūji admitted. At least the boy had popped up slightly after my admission, he proceeded to turn his gaze to Ren "Did the thought ever cross your mind Ren?" Ryūji asked. Our leader proceeded to give the boy a raised eyebrow in surprise at his question.
"Of course. Since Kamoshida's madness, hard not to think about that kind of stuff," Ren admitted. That was quite true, well it was for me at least but I can't say whether the others were as compulsive about thinking about it whenever they have a free moment; I should probably do something about that now that I think about it, I can't become obsessive.
"Don't be so anxious. You don't even know everything about the city you live in, after all," Morgana reassured. Very true, but something like the Metaverse perked curiosity unlike Tokyo, but that might be because I could actually fight the dangers in the Metaverse. "All that's important is that we know how to make use of that world and how to traverse it," Morgana reminded.
"Anyway, we have our route and our plan, everyone in favour of sending the calling card?" Ren asked. Most of us agreed to go through with the sending of the calling card, except for Yusuke who seemed to be in deep thought about the plan; he adjusted his position to look at us with concern in his eyes which caused worry to start stirring within me about what could be concerning him so.
"A calling card, hm? Will he take it seriously? He is famous, after all… he has often received slanderous letters till now, as well," Yusuke wondered. That was a concern we needed to address, a famous person would receive questionable or even accusatory mail – I think it was par for the course of being famous – so we had to ensure that Madarame would be thoroughly convinced by the letter we were going to send.
"If you use the right wordage he will, maybe include something only Madarame could know. That will really scare him," Ren reassured. A good idea, if we referenced things from the Palace with just the right wording then Madarame would instinctively know it's true and that would cause the change of cognition we needed; of course, the question about writing immediately made me turn to a certain blonde.
"Are you going to write it again, Ryūji? That last one was questionable at best," Morgana warily asked. I'm glad that someone else was being cautious about the writing aspect of the calling card; we didn't need something done in that style again. Suddenly a clap sounded and I looked over to see that Ann had a bright smile on her face and her hands were pressed firmly against each other as if praying.
"Yusuke should do it! Make it really artistic and stuff!" Ann cheerfully suggested. That was a good idea since Yusuke would be able to word it in a good way that would ensure the change of cognition; however, when I looked over at Yusuke to see what he thought of the idea, his expression showed that he didn't think that was a good idea at all.
"No. It'll end with him figuring it out. He knows my drawing and writing styles all too well," Yusuke insisted. That was definitely something dangerous, we didn't need Yusuke to be put into anymore danger than he already was; but luckily there was something Ryūji had done with the previous calling card that might be able to cover us on that base.
"Then don't write it," I suggested. I pulled out the calling card I had brought with me and handed it to the painter. "The cut out kanji will prevent him from realising its' you," I suggested. He opened it up and looked over the message that had been sent; he even went as far as to nod his head in agreement with the idea to use the kanji instead of his own handwriting. Suddenly Ryūji pumped his fist into the air.
"Yeah! I'll think it up and Yusuke just has to make it cooler!" Ryūji decided. That was a good idea, refining Ryūji's work would also put another layer of protection over Yusuke, Yusuke smiled slightly and nodded his head in agreement before folding the card up and slipping it into his pocket before anyone saw. He grabbed his bag and proceeded to stand up with a pleased expression upon his face.
"Designing a calling card, hm… interesting. It shall become proof that we do exist," Yusuke decided. We all smiled at each other, feeling relaxed that we would finally be able to stop Madarame's cruel ambitions.
*Persona 5 Royal*
The time we spent in school while we waited for the end of the day was practically gnawing at my mind, I barely paid attention in Chouno-sensei's class, which was probably a bad thing since she sprung a difficult question about word roots on Ren which – apart from the discussion of synaesthesia – was all I could recall of the lesson.
Once school was finished, we met up with Yusuke who privately showed us the calling card and it was amazing. The wordage was almost poetry in how it flowed and the icon that Yusuke had designed was quite eye catching. It kept the hat and mask from Ryūji's design but ditched the smirk, both of these were much more stylised than the previous cartoonish version with the left eye hole of the mask taking on a flame like appearance. It was enough that Ryūji had updated the Chat icon to that symbol last night.
We headed for the exhibit with Yusuke having already distributed the calling cards at the exhibit. Yusuke stepped out into the open to stand beside Madarame who had a crowd of people gathered around him. That meant we couldn't use them as cover so we instead hid behind some paintings where we could still see Madarame and watch his reaction. A member of the staff walked up to Madarame and they moved over to the other side of the painting so we adjusted ourselves to watch.
"A letter?" Madarame asked. The man took a hold of the calling card and held it up. "Sir Ichiryūsai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity whose talent has been exhausted. You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal the ideas of his pupils. We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail. From, The Phantoms," Madarame read. He quickly scrunched up the calling card as his eyes narrowed into a glare. "Whose doing is this!?" Madarame demanded.
"We don't know! The same letter has been posted everywhere," The staff member revealed. Very nicely done Yusuke, we weren't even concerned when Madarame brought up security cameras. "There were no signs of the culprit… all we saw was a cat in the recordings," The staff member revealed. All of us focused on Morgana, who was preening a fair amount, as we each gave him silent congratulates for his hard work in spreading those calling cards.
"Remove these at once!" Madarame ordered. The staff member agreed but he then whispered something to the man that none of us humans heard, but Morgana claimed he was worrying about the media's reaction to the post. "Are you insinuating that this slander is true?" Madarame questioned. He even stamped his foot as he said those words, the staff member denied this and that was when it happened.
"It's those damn brats' doing, isn't it?" Shadow Madarame snarled. The haze was in full effect as I saw the Ruler's true thoughts to this event. "Well, it means nothing… they'll only be able to do as they please until the exhibit is over," Shadow Madarame claimed. Unlike last time there was no additional weigh to show an increase to the Security Level, but we weren't inside the Palace this time so all I got was the faintest sense of agitation. Yusuke turned and walked over to us in a calm and easy manner.
"Will that do?" Yusuke asked. His expression was uncertain as he looked at me since we had warned him of the way the Ruler should be affected by the card, I grinned at the boy and nodded my head to show that the calling card had done the trick. "I thought so, but to know it is a different feeling," Yusuke admitted. His tension faded away as he rested a hand on the centre of his chest.
"Yup! It was perfect! The composition was way cooler too!" Ann congratulated. Morgana agreed that the Treasure should have appeared now as Ryūji claimed Madarame's freedom would be coming to an end; that was when we learned people were already talking about the calling card over the internet… word can spread terrifyingly fast.
"I'm sure you know, but we only get one shot to pull this off!" Morgana reminded. The serious weight of his words caused any sort of relaxed atmosphere to evaporate like water in the desert, it was replaced with a seriousness as we all exchanged looks; we nodded our heads in agreement with our healer's words, knowing this would be our only chance to stop Madarame for good.
"Let's do this," Ren ordered. With that, we proceeded to leave the exhibit with no one the wiser.
*Persona 5 Royal*
"The atmosphere in here seems significantly different," Fox noted. He twisted the ring he now bore; it was the Ring of Attachment which had been replaced by the Ring of Vanity for me, primarily for its' weakness nullification effect which would keep me safe from the three elements, although the barrier effect it could produce would be useful.
"I mean we did basically declare war on him by sendin' that card," Skull commented. Not too far off the mark since that is exactly what it felt like with the amount of pressure the Security Level was putting down upon us; but with our plan in place and route secured then we'd have nothing to worry about… so long as nothing unexpected happens that is.
"But there's nothing to fear. We've secured a route and we're ready to go. We'll take the Treasure in style!" Mona reassured. With that, Joker opened a passage for us to the nearest Safe Room, we quickly ran over our accessories to make sure none of them needed to be changed but apart from me and Fox, the others would be okay with what they currently had on.
"There will be no turning back once we begin the operation," Fox admitted. We were all aware of this fact, but it almost seemed to add a weight of seriousness to the matter which made it feel more real than even the weight that came from the Security Level; I took a deep breath in order to settle my nerves so that they didn't start running amok before we even started our heist.
"And if worst comes to worst, we might have another of those fights on our hands," Panther admitted. That was the one thing we wanted to avoid, but the truth was we had all agreed it was the most likely scenario, so it was a case of worst case scenario but we were all prepared for it; Joker had made sure to stock up on medicine just for such an occasion and dole out new armour for everyone which he had cleaned.
"That's right. Are you ready, Joker?" Mona asked. Joker nodded his head and we all focused upon our leader; he'd outlined the plan to us in a Chat but hadn't yet decided on what roles people would be playing only that we'd be split into three groups: one to support Mona, another to handle the power and a third to cover our escape route in case any Shadows attempted to close to off.
"Alright, everyone here are your roles," Joker stated. I could practically taste the tension that his words had caused. "Fox and Amazon, you'll go with Mona to steal the Treasure. Skull and Panther, one of you will lead any Shadows away from the control room while the other kills the lights. I'll cover our escape since I can handle our enemies the safest," Joker explained. That caused a worried feeling to gnaw at me and everyone else seemed to feel the same from their expressions.
"Just be careful, you going down will really hamper our capability to fight if it comes to that," I insisted. Joker nodded and so we gave him a vast chunk of the medicine along with a few elemental attack items; with that done Joker along with Skull and Panther shot down the corridor. I really hope that those three will be safe, especially Joker since his weaknesses were exploitable even if they were rather unpredictable.
"Let's get moving you two," Mona insisted. We trailed after the cat shaped thief and grappled over to the other side of Treasure Hall where we'd find the maintenance room, we got inside and while Fox stood by the lever ready to pull once the lights were out, Mona and I moved over to the cane. "Make sure to tie it tight Amazon," Mona reminded.
"I know Mona, we don't want our best healer falling into such a trap," I agreed. I pulled out the rope and tied one end around Mona's torso, using the rope I lifted him up and chucked the over end over the hook. Once Mona's back was secure against the hook but not uncomfortable, I wrapped the rest of the rope around him and the hook before tying the end around one of the other pieces of rope.
"And now we wait," Mona whispered. I nodded my head as Mona proceeded to look down into the laser cage and I followed his gaze, the Treasure had taken its' solid form, but I couldn't tell what it was not only due to the distance, but also due to the face that it was covered by a purple shroud, but the shape did indicate it was thin and rectangular. "That looks like a painting," Mona commented.
"If it's a self-portrait Skull will never shut up," I joked. Mona cracked a smile at that, but the silence was a bit stifling in my opinion. "Hey, remember you own me lock picking lessons after this, so come back safe," I insisted. I'd only really said that to keep the worry in my body from overpowering me, I couldn't see or hear any of my teammates apart from Mona and Fox; a quick glance down to the control room proved no one friendly was in there yet. I wish there was some way for us to communicate with each other, but most technology couldn't work in here, so we probably need something very special.
"Of course, Amazon, a gentleman never breaks a promise to a lady," Mona reassured. I gave him a smile as he said that, especially since I saw the comforting gaze he was shooting me, before he took in a deep breath and his tail started to swish through the air quite happily. "Ah, only the best can appreciate these critical moments. Plus, this feels like we're really phantom thieves!" Mona cheered.
"Our second heist in such a fancy, if gaudy, place, it's certainly a step up from a crumbling old castle," I admitted. I looked down again and saw Panther in the control booth, I gave her my signal before turning back to the opening and rushing over. "Get ready Fox! Light's out soon!" I warned. Right as I said those words, the lights vanished putting us in darkness.
"And our dramatic heist begins!" Fox declared. Hearing the crane activate, I carefully made my way back over to the edge and reached my hand out to feel the crane as it descended down; I heard Panther arrive at our location as she apologised for the wait when I felt a movement through the cable that was different to its' previous movement.
"Treasure secured!" I called. The crane immediately started to retract as the lights came back on, briefly blinding me, once Mona was up with me, I gripped the Treasure and set it beside me then grabbed one of Mona's hands and pulled the rope free. Mona used my arm as a swing to reach the wooden planks as I swiftly coiled up the rope and tucked it away; the Treasure was secured to Mona back when I turned around as he hopped over to the maintenance room.
"Heehee, how's that for a skilled plan!" Mona celebrated. At least he wasn't losing his mind like last time, I heard the commotion as Shadow Madarame and his goons realised the Treasure was gone; once back in the room we made our way to the door and Panther pulled on it, but it didn't move. "Seriously! It's not opening!?" Mona exclaimed. Things quickly got worse when I heard voices ordering the crane to be checked out. "Wh-wh-what do we do!?" Mona panicked.
"Forgive me, but what sort of master thief lacks an escape plan?" Fox questioned. He sounded much too calm for the situation since we were about to be discovered. "In any case, let us search for another way out. We must escape!" Fox insisted. I twisted around and darted for the table, I seized paper and pen to scribble out a quick note to Joker, and hopefully Skull too, before tying it to one of my arrows with a bit of string.
"Back to the Treasure, quickly!" I insisted. We shot back through the opening as I prepared my bow, at the edge, I positioned myself to see the room that led to the distorted world; once set, I loosed the arrow and watched it disappear through the arch. "I've sent a warning to Joker, let's hope Skull is with him and they'll meet up with us," I stated. Standing up, I hooked my bow back in place and we quickly started to hop across the boards towards a glowing blue window.
"Go through! Now!" Joker's voice ordered. I glanced back to see him leaping over towards us with Skull slightly behind him; we didn't wait for long and quickly dove through the opening, only to emerge into what looked to be roof of the Palace, we had escaped from being instantly caught but now we needed to actually find our way down from here.
"Whoa, this shit's real high up," Skull commented. Mona reassured him that we at least were outside now, before reminding us that we still needed to escape; Joker immediately got moving and we followed him down a series of blocks that acted like steps twice before heading down some actual stairs and reaching a glowing red doorway.
"Is this another portal to an unknown destination?" Fox wondered. Joker didn't give us much time to hesitate and instead quickly ushered us through the opening which turned green upon approach; shockingly enough this led us right out into the courtyard which had required Panther's decoy act to get through.
"I knew it! All that security would've been meaningless if it just led back inside!" Mona declared. We were still technically inside but I suppose this was the closest thing to a halfway point; Fox claimed we'd escaped a siege, but at that moment I heard an unsettlingly familiar meow escape from Mona which caused us all who knew that sound to give him intensely concerned looks. Fox of course looked completely confused.
"Dude! Why's Mona getting' excited now of all times?" Skull questioned. Mona insisted that we take a look at the Treasure despite the fact that we were still in significant danger of being found, but no one else seemed concerned as Mona removed the painting and set it on the ground. Skull and Panther knelt down on either side of the healer while me, Joker and Fox arrayed ourselves in a triangle to watch for any danger.
"Treasure!" Mona squealed. He threw himself on top of the painting as if to nuzzle it, before suddenly going very still. "Hrm?!" Mona sounded. He sounded rather confused, so I looked down only to see Mona pull back which revealed a rather crude drawing of a face made in simple lines; it wasn't something I'd expect to be the Treasure of a vain man.
"This is the Treasure!?" Skull questioned. However, none of us could respond when Fox suddenly yelled for us to get back. We all jumped away just in time to avoid being caught by an extremely powerful electrified fence that had leapt up around the painting, thank goodness for Fox's keen eye otherwise we would have been trapped.
"Meddlesome vermin," Shadow Madarame spat. We all turned to face him and found the man standing there with two Shadows and I quickly noticed that one had a golden frame underneath its' arm; all of us gathered around in front of the Ruler. "Is this what you're looking for?" Shadow Madarame asked. That meant the frame the Shadow held had to be the real Treasure.
"How dare you try to trap me like some kind of mouse!" Mona snapped. I couldn't blame Mona for feeling that way as it was quite annoying, did the Rulers have a habit of setting up a trap for us once the calling card was sent? Kamoshida and Ouvrard had used an ambush while – as Skull right accused – Madarame had a fake Treasure set to ensnare us.
"Counterfeits are accepted in the world of Japanese art," Shadow Madarame commented. Not this time they wouldn't be, we wanted the genuine article and there was no way any of us would be leaving without it; all of us were prepared to fight, up until Fox stepped forward slightly. At Joker's nod, we stood down and allowed Fox to confront the man he owed a great debt to but had also wronged him too much.
"What made you change like this!? Is it because you became famous?!" Fox questioned. He sounded more torn up than I had expected him to be, but I suppose he couldn't cast aside everything he felt towards Madarame so easily, no matter how determined he was to see the man pay for his crimes. "Can't you understand how much it pains me to inquire about the crimes of my foster father!?" Fox pleaded.
"Now that I think back, the only reason why I took you in was due to my ties with your mother. That woman never lost her passion for painting even after her husband died. Her skills and talents were quite astonishing… that's why I decided to look after her," Shadow Madarame stated. I couldn't believe the heartlessness that this Shadow was showing, had he never even cared for Yusuke, even a smidge? "Your mother and the artwork she created, they're all MY works of art!" Shadow Madarame declared.
"How low can you sink?!" Panther accused. A snarl on her lips and twisting up her voice, I felt my free hand twist into a tight fist at the cruelty within Madarame's words; to think that he would claim someone's own life as belonging to them, it was terrifying to see how much I was reminded of Ouvrard by looking at and listening to this man, it was the same horrible way Ouvrard had spoken of my voice.
"I suppose I can grant you a gift before you die. A glimpse of the genuine Sayuri!" Shadow Madarame declared. Fox was obviously confused by those words, after all it hadn't made much sense when Fox knew what the real Sayuri looked like; the Ruler nodded to the Shadow holding the frame. It repositioned the frame and held the Treasure proudly above its' head so that we could see its' true form.
"That's the real Sayuri!" Fox questioned. I could understand his confusion, the painting was almost an exact match for the Sayuri we'd all seen, but there was one glaring difference. The fog was gone and, in its' place, cradled in the woman's arms, was a baby… a baby with the same dark hair and moonlight skin as the woman. "This can't be?!" Fox denied. Somehow, I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that Fox knew exactly who the woman in the painting was. "Mum," Fox called. I heard the tears in his voice as he seemed to curl in on himself.
"Indeed, it is. This was painted by your mother. It's a portrait of herself. A woman who knew her death was coming painted her last wishes, for the son she would leave behind. That is the truth behind the mystery of Sayuri's expression!" Shadow Madarame declared. He dared to claim that artwork belonged to him! That painting belonged to Yusuke! If Yusuke's mother had painted it for him, then that was where it should have been! Yet Madarame had the gall to deface it and claim it as his own!
"You stole something that personal!?" Skull questioned. Madarame claimed he knew it would be a huge success if he changed it and used his own name when it was released; I couldn't believe this man could exist. He was worse than Ouvrard, at least my voice could never be taken from me in such a literal manner but to think he stole something so deeply important to both Fox and his mum, of all things… this had to be the worst crime Madarame could commit.
"But the baby in the picture… why did you paint over it?" Fox questioned. Apparently, that was to add mystery to the reason behind the expression that Fox's mum bore and Madarame believed that this mystery was why people were drawn to it all because critics had written that comment several times over.
"I always felt something was off about all this… now I know what it is," Panther calmly stated. Of course, that calm was a mask for the fire that burned within her eyes, she looked an inch away from tearing her mask off to launch some fireballs… not that I felt any better if I'm honest. "If you really treasured that painting, you wouldn't even think about replicating it for profit! You don't love art at all!" Panther snapped.
"Though you have a real Treasure, your true skills are nothing more than those scribbles on that fake!" Mona accused. Skull claimed that he was going to laugh, everyone one of them was right; I'd wondered why vanity was his distortion and now I knew why, he believed himself so great and incredible that he thought he could do whatever he wanted when in truth, as Mona said, his skills weren't worth the air to talk about them.
"So, you'll defy me no matter what… well then, since you're my work of art Yusuke, I'm going to reap you for the sake of my future. Along with those insolent friends of yours there," Shadow Madarame stated. It looks like we'd have to end up in a fight again, I prepared myself for the fight to come as I waited for Madarame to transform.
"I can't believe you're treating both mother and son like they're objects… you're inhuman!" Panther cried. My eyes darted over to Fox who I noted seemed to be deep in thought, as if considering something important, before he lifted his head to focus cold eyes upon Madarame; yet his body still trembled slightly as if he struggled to hold himself back from acting.
"I've heard that you destroy your 'art' once they outlive your usefulness… did that include my mother as well?" Fox questioned. I think I might have preferred Fox and Panther to attack me with their elements – at the same time – than to hear that suggestion; I looked at Madarame as he stared at his former pupil in silence for a moment.
"She just so happened to have a seizure in front of me. That's when a thought crossed my mind… if I don't call for help and leave her be, I could obtain her painting without any strings attached," Shadow Madarame admitted. The sensation of ice so cold it burned encasing my body fell away under the heat of rage the roared to life upon hearing what Madarame had done.
"Murderer!" I snarled. I took one step forward before something grabbed my arm while a difference force wrapped itself around my leg. "You as good as murdered her! You stole her life and Fox's future! All for your selfish desires!" I yelled. I was feeling incredibly out of control, so it was probably good that Skull and Mona had intervened as I wasn't entirely sure that I could hold myself back.
"She was physically weak. No one would doubt if she just dropped dead because of a seizure. Above all, Yusuke, didn't you think it was odd that I discovered your talent when you were only three?" Shadow Madarame wondered. My eyes widened as I felt my body slacken, allowing the two boys to release me but not of their own volition as they also proceeded to stare at Madarame in horror.
"You didn't," Joker hissed. I'm starting to think there was nothing we could imagine that this man wasn't capable of doing with all these infernal revelations. "You taking Fox in had nothing to do with artistic talent and everything to do with keeping him from realising you stole his mother's artwork," Joker realised. I felt like being sick, especially when Madarame proceeded to shrug his shoulders in response to Joker's accusation.
"Correct, the artistic talents Yusuke inherited from his mother were a delightful miscalculation, though," Shadow Madarame admitted. He even seemed proud of what he'd done, as if it wasn't something horrific. "If I'm going to steal ideas, it's much easier robbing the future of brats who won't talk back than adults. It's thanks to you that I came up with the idea. You have my gratitude," Shadow Madarame admitted. Shockingly enough, a chuckle came from my right and I looked over to see Fox standing there seemingly composed.
"I thank you, Madarame!" Fox spat. Were it not for the venom that his voice had been so heavily laced with, I might have been concerned about what Fox had just said. "Every reason for me to forgive you has disappeared without a trace at this very moment! You aren't just some rotten artist… you're a despicable fiend who wears the skin of an artist!" Fox declared. Fox was certain to fight at full fury now that he knew Madarame had never felt anything towards him beyond profit.
"All you good-for-nothings! Barging into my museum and doing whatever the hell you want!" Shadow Madarame declared. A dangerous aura surrounded the Ruler at that moment and I think all of us knew what was coming. "Those who have the connections make the rules; those who don't, follow them. Not to mention, the value of art is all subjective! I make the rules in the art scene! I am a supreme being! I am the god of the art world!" Shadow Madarame bellowed.
"Here it comes! Get back!" Mona warned. We did as instructed and put some distance between us and Madarame who started to laugh in a deranged maniacal fashion as his appearance distorted, growing and stretching until it split apart into four different framed pictures, consisting of two eyes, a nose and a mouth.
"I'll paint all over you!" The paintings declared. I quickly pulled on my Second Sight in order to identify what these were, but instead of getting a singular pulse of information and the name of this transformed state, I received four. Each of the four paintings were named differently and when I focused on their weaknesses to see if we could use one, I felt like my blood drained through my feet and my mouth became filled with ash. "Now, let's begin to vermin!" The paintings decided.
"You used others for your own despicable desires, Madarame. You aren't even worth the art you 'create'!" Fox insulted. I could feel myself trembling slightly as I took in the information that I had received thanks to my eyes, it was something I hadn't anticipated showing up and that meant we would be in one hell of a difficult fight, if I could just get my mouth working!
"Let me guess, no weakness," Joker commented. I still couldn't force my voice to obey me as I could only soundlessly gape at the horrifying thing I was seeing. "Amazon? Hey, Amazon, what's wrong?!" Joker questioned. He moved over to me and gripped my arm, not tight but it was enough to jolt my voice out of my throat.
"It's… all different, all of them are different," I revealed. Joker seemed disturbed by my revelation as I took a breath to focus myself instead of losing my head completely and my tongue shrivelling up again. "The eyeballs drain Wind, Fire, Earth, Electricity, and Ice. The nose drains Psy, Nuke, Curse, Bless, and Gravity. The mouth drains both types of physical attacks. There are no weaknesses for any of them!" I warned.
"Should I use my ring's power?" Fox asked. It would certainly be useful if he did decide to do so, but the Soul Power price might be too high, especially if we had to fight against an actual demon version after this painting fight or it ended up wearing off at some point; we needed to be smart about the things we did in this battle and be very cautious.
"No! That'd take you out of the fight faster than a normal attack!" Joker insisted. We all gathered in close to our leader who had a grim expression upon his face as he looked over our enemies quickly. "Amazon! You're with me, use Gravity on the eyes! Panther! Mona! Use your Spells on the mouth! Skull! Fox! Skills on the nose!" Joker ordered. We all gave a positive response and Joker tore his mask off.
A skeleton in a suit of green-blue and white, holding a red cloth and a sword appeared, I realised that it had a sensation that seemed to connect to Takemi-sensei. Psychic energy suddenly spiralled around one eye and crushed down on it. It immediately drooped in response. I quickly acted to have Phantom crush the other eye so that they matched.
But the mouth chose that moment to attack. It surged forward and clamped down hard on Skull's harm before he could dodge. Panther healed him up the moment it pulled back, so Mona attacked. His Wind Spell surrounded the mouth and it sunk down slightly. A fiery aura began to come from one of the eyes and it blasted out towards Panther.
The girl took the hit before patting herself down and even flicking a ponytail with an unimpressed look on her face. Skull laughed loudly before having Captain Kidd attack which was followed up by Fox's own move. The nose retaliated by bringing down a blast of lightning upon Fox. Our newest member mostly dodge, but his sleeve got slightly scorched as a result of the attack.
"Concentrate on the one I'm going to weaken!" Joker ordered. He summoned Atlanta who allowed a weakening aura to swallow up one of the eyes. I quickly followed orders and attacked the eye. It slumped down even more, allowing Mona's slingshot to drop it completely. With one enemy out of the way, it might make this fight just a little easier for us.
Unfortunately, that was when we got a very nasty surprise thanks to that infernal mouth. It proceeded to emit a healing aura which twisted around the eye that had just been defeat. Said eye proceeded to stretch slightly and then popped back up into the air beside the other eye. It wasn't at full health, but it coming back was bad enough for us.
"They regenerated!?" Mona exclaimed. I could see that anger was present on the others' faces at knowing our enemies were capable of returning to the fight at any moment after getting knocked down. "Damnit… those things can come back if we don't take them down at once!?" Mona realised. We needed to target our attacks carefully to ensure that they couldn't pull this trick on us too often.
"Change of plans. I'll weaken their defence! Amazon and Skull, boost everyone's offense! The rest of you attack until we're done!" Joker ordered. Me and Skull quickly got to work to boost everyone as quickly as possible. Joker started to reduce the defence. As for the other three, they proceeded to target each enemy, Panther took the mouth, Fox handled the nose and Mona struck the eyes.
Of course, we had our own problems to deal with thanks to the retaliations from our enemies. The eyes attempted to weaken us – thankfully Mona dodged – and strengthen itself which succeeded. The nose released a burst of wind. That was followed up by a blast of ice from the mouth. Once me and Skull finished our empowerment task and Joker finished his weakening, we got back into the fight.
Suddenly, a strange aura began to radiate from the right eye and suddenly ink surged out. It sprung towards Mona who wasn't able to dodge the ink and instead became completely drenched in it. He slumped down slightly, as if bearing some heavy burden all of a sudden. I did not like the fact that something strange had happened, almost like that stupid volleyball spike or the singing.
"What is this attack!? There has to be more than just our colour changing! We should be cautious!" Mona warned. I didn't know exactly if it would work on the Personas we had, I knew I could see their stories, but I'd never tried for their actual capabilities, but we needed to know something. I focused my Second Sight upon Mona and got the third nasty surprise of this fight.
"Oh no! Mona, you're weak to everything!" I exclaimed. Everyone's expressions became fearful upon learning that. Things got even worse when the other eye proceeded to surround Mona with a weakening aura which he couldn't dodge this time. A burst of powerful wind erupted from the nose and charged towards Mona. Thankfully, Joker jumped in front of Mona and his mask glowed. The wind struck him and it seemed to dissipate harmlessly around his body.
"Protect Mona from all attacks!" Joker ordered. The rest of us flocked to him and surround Mona on all sides but the back to protect him from any of the paintings' attacks. Mona pulled off his mask and tried to heal himself with Patra, but the ink didn't fade away. It was the same story for when Joker attempted to use a fairy creature – not unlike Pixie but quite different since it was called High Pixie – to heal with Baisudi.
"Here, have some more!" Madarame declared. He then began to spew more ink from the mouth painting, Joker grabbed Mona and jumped away with the rest of us following. We scattered through the courtyard, desperately dodging or hiding to avoid the ink. What a horrifically nasty ability, I'd prefer that damn singing over something that reduced me into a being practically unable to fight back.
"His cognition covers things with paint. Because of that, Madarame is convinced he can control anyone!" Mona warned. I rolled across the ground to avoid another spray of ink and ended up ducked behind a patch of flora with Joker and Mona. I quickly looked around and found the other three hiding behind their own protection.
"We're getting nowhere like this!" Fox declared. He was right, we needed to do something about that infernal ink that he kept spewing, even after he stopped this round of attack. I looked over at Joker and saw that he was attempting to rub the ink off of Mona, but the expression on his face proved it was a fruitless endeavour. He stopped rubbing and looked up, but something caught his eye as he turned his head to the side.
"That ink, it's the same stuff that Madarame is using," Joker realised. I looked over and saw cans of ink resting off to the side, if that was the same stuff that Madarame was using to twist our elemental affinities then maybe it would be possible for us to use that very same ink to force the same condition upon him; better than continuing to hide from the ink and only getting pot shots in, like Skull and Panther happened to be doing.
"I say we give him a taste of his own medicine," I suggested. Joker nodded his head, agreeing that this was possibly the best move for us to make to hopefully stop this nonsense; a sound echoed near us and I snapped my head over to see it, naginata at the ready just in case. Thankfully it was only Fox who was now crouched beside us with a fierce expression in his eyes.
"Leave it to me," Fox insisted. Joker nodded his head with a happy smirk on his face, with that he called for Skull and Panther to join us. They scurried over while dodging the ink as Mona tried to find ways to clean himself of the increasingly stubborn ink. Once they joined us, Joker laid out a new plan for us to use, once the spewing had stopped, we leapt out to commence the attack.
Panther and Joker both tore of their masks. A red bipedal horse looking creature with a dark mane called Orobas manifested behind our leader. Flames sprang from both of them and slammed into the mouth and nose respectively. Skull used Captain Kidd to ram into one of the eyes, while I had Phantom twisted a well of gravity around the other eye. This was really all a distraction for Fox to strike.
Like some kind of ninja, Fox pounced over, a paint brush and ink can in hand. He quickly smeared the ink over the paintings, no sense of artistry given to the way actions. As a result, all of the paintings immediately slummed down, I quickly proceeded to use my eyes, just to make sure that the ink had acted as intended; it had… kind of.
"Good news, bad news. Bad news, it hasn't lost its' drain abilities. Good news, weak to everything else," I revealed. Joker started us off by removing his mask and having Shiisaa use Frei upon the mouth. A quick Baton Pass to a recovered Mona – thank goodness! – allowed the healer to blast the nose with Wind. Skull received the next one and had Captain Kidd slam one of the eyes, I took the pass and knocked down the final piece with one last Gry Spell.
On Joker's command, we all leapt in to attack them all before pulling back. The paintings didn't spring up this time, instead they twitched slightly before proceeding to start melting, turning into ink and the liquid drained away. Fox put down his tools as we watched the gold clad form of the Ruler finally emerge from the paintings, he'd distorted himself into.
"Madarame's out!" Mona cheered. We moved into our Hold Up positions, it was a relief to know that we had been able to knock him of those creepy paintings, but I was still waiting for whatever he would pull on us because something told me that this fight wasn't over for us just yet, even if we managed to commence an All-Out Attack.
"Damnit… I'm the great Madarame. The Madarame who gathers a full crowd every time he opens an exhibit! I'm not someone that worthless brats like you are allowed to defy!" Shadow Madarame ranted. I let out a scoff and rolled my eyes, he had such an overblown ego that it was amazing he wasn't floating in mid-air, all the others looked equally as unimpressed with his words.
"Enough of your egotistic ranting!" Fox ordered. I felt a smile pull at my lips upon hearing the sharp and angry tone that the painter was using on him. "Taste the wrath of all those you've preyed upon!" Fox demanded. With that command, we dove in to perform an All-Out Attack with Fox actually leading the charge this time, but I don't think anyone could stop him. We eventually pulled back and quickly set ourselves upon seeing Shadow Madarame climbing to his feet.
"I'm the great artist, Madarame! If you brats can't fathom that… then you'll witness it for yourselves! Behold my master craft!" Shadow Madarame declared. I sensed a gathering power rising up and it then swiftly flowed passed all of us, that power coalesced into five spots surrounding the Shadow. A wave of energy rippled out and when it faded, I saw that five more Shadows had shown up; all of them looked identical to Madarame except for what they wore. The clothes were either blue, green, red, brown or a lighter shade of yellow, but most worryingly were the elemental auras that surrounded each of them.
"Wha-!? He made copies of himself!?" Mona exclaimed. It was quite the surprise to see but with everything that we knew about him it also shouldn't have been that shocking. "Ha, I see. Creating duplicates is his speciality!" Mona mocked. A few chuckles escaped us at Mona's cutting words, but I had to focus to get the true information out of the new enemies that had manifested before us.
"Azazel, so that's your name hmm," I realised. At least now I was getting a proper reading on the Shadow. "Green Repels Ice and Wind! It's weak to Electricity! Blue Repels the same! Weak to Fire! Yellow Repels Fire and Electricity! Weak to Wind! Red Repels the same as Yellow! Weak to Ice! Brown repels all of those plus Earth! Weak to Gravity! All resist physical attacks! No weaknesses or strengths for the real one!" I advised. We'd need to be careful since they could likely use the Elements they repelled to attack.
"Baton Passes this time everyone! Match up against your best opponent!" Joker ordered. He didn't hesitate before tearing his mask off, Atalanta appeared and quickly weakened Azazel's defence. The rest of us scurried into place and Skull started us off. A quick blast of Electricity sent the Ersatz Mirth to the ground.
"Panther, knock 'em dead!" Skull encouraged. A cheerful response came from the girl as she took the Pass, One fireball later, Ersatz Sorrow was also down. Panther darted to Fox whose icy magic flattened Ersatz Fury. Mona took over and Ersatz Joy was a heap on the floor. Mona joined me and when he passed I realised that I held the ability to exchange my own Soul Power for the one I held, four passes must have been enough to create it. But better to hold off on using it.
"Too bad I don't have a multi-target Gravity Spell," I muttered. Raising my left hand, I pulled off my mask. "Sing Phantom!" I commanded. The gravity well surrounded Ersatz Bravery and it was taken down. I darted over to Joker and passed the gathered power to him which he quickly raised to his mask to infuse the power instead of draining his own. Matador emerged and psychic energy pummelled the entire group.
We continued this trend, with Fox and Mona setting off two more Baton Pass strings. Each time they ended properly on Joker who uses Shiisaa and Archangel's multi-target spells to render the group of counterfeits reduced to flakes of Shadow dust and Azazel looking quite worse for wear. If only we could have defeated him or at least knocked him down to at least initiate an All-Out Attack.
"Stop this… is this how you show your gratitude to the man who raised you?!" Azazel questioned. Gratitude?! After everything Madarame had done to Fox, the other students and now as we know Fox's own mother! This man didn't even deserve to ever be thanked for the cruelty and trauma he had inflicted upon innocent children all for his own selfish gain.
"Silence! Don't waste your breath!" Fox commanded. Azazel responded to this denouncement by creating more fakes, but this time these were only the Sorrow and Fury ones which meant things wouldn't be as smooth as it had been previously; but it also wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult as it could have been.
"I don't have an Ice Persona! Fox! You'll have to take down both red ones!" Joker revealed. Before any of us could react, his mask was off and Orobas came out. He doused one Sorrow in flames and quickly passed to Panther. The blonde model quickly copied our leader's move which dropped the other Sorrow. Panther swiftly passed over to Fox who promptly knocked both of the red clad fakes down.
"Fox! Pass to me, I can strike all of them!" I insisted. Joker agreed and Fox quickly gave me the pass. I quickly used the gathered Soul Power and proceeded to have Phantom use Matera on all of them. Which didn't get rid of them unfortunately. Even worse was when one of the Sorrows proceeded to climb back to its' feet.
"You dare defy an esteemed elder? May you all be frozen in fear!" Sorrow declared. It proceeded to project a cold aura that twisted spiked balls of ice around Skull. He got hit but better him than Panther. Especially since Mona quickly healed all of us just to be sure. The other Sorrow got up and attacked Fox with the same attack. Of course, the boy wasn't even bothered by the ice beyond his breath getting slightly chilled. But then a Fury proceeded to stand up.
"Damn clueless brats… my fiery rage shall reduce you all to mere ashes!" Fury declared. A blaze of fire was soon projected and danced across Joker's form, however Orobas didn't seem resistant to flames given Joker's flinch, but neither was it weak. The other Fury rose up and proceed to use the same attack upon Mona who – and I was seriously worried – seem to catch fire!
"Mona!" Panther cried. Thankfully Joker quickly swapped masks to use a Spellthat quickly put a stop to the flames as Panther healed Mona of any damage. Skull let out a cry as he had Captain Kidd use a Skill called Rampage. The wildly swinging boat slammed into all of the enemies and, in spite of their resistance to Physical attacks, the fakes proceeded to vanish once again.
"Damnit! Damnit! Stop it you brats! Or else," Azazel attempted to threaten. But Fox just casually dismissed the words, not even fazed by the weak threat to us, Azazel proceeded to create more fakes, three Mirth, one Sorrow and one Fury this time around. Fox quickly knocked down the Fury and darted over to Skull who proceeded to slam each of the Mirths into the ground. Panther got back in the fight and took the pass to burn the Sorrow quite furiously. Panther handed it over to Joker who used Matador again to bombard them all. That was when a Mirth got back up.
"Disappear from my sight without a trace, like dust scattered in the wind!" Mirth declared. A cyclone of wind proceeded to reach out and twist around Mona who easily shrugged it off. The cat shaped thief then used his ring to incinerate the Mirth that had climb to his feet. This allowed me to use Matera on all of them, skewering each with sharp rocks and turning the fakes into dust.
Azazel was quick to summon out more fakes, this time made of two Sorrows, two Joys and one Bravery. The presence of that last one meant I couldn't use Matera to deal some damage to all of them – I really wish I had a multi Gravity Spell – like previously. Yet the moment I looked at them, I got the sense that something was distinctly wrong with the five fakes that had just been summoned.
"Hey, something seems wrong, could he have…," Mona wondered. Azazel also released his mistake, that mistake being that some of the copies were afflicted with status ailments. It was truly a ridiculous mistake to make since that just left him exposed as the fakes would be that much more vulnerable to our attacks now. "Looks like you've reached your limit. Failing to even make a counterfeit? You're really looking like a joke now!" Mona mocked. Mona was being ruthless, but it was quite an appropriate thing to say, only three full revivals of his fakes and he was exhausted… talk about pathetic.
"So, this is the true limit of your skill… how infantile," Fox lamented. If even the true master painter thought this display was a farce, then I knew it was bad. "To think you'd fail to produce even one of your counterfeits. Please, don't disappoint me any further!" Fox insulted. He seemed to be taking this inability to create the fakes consistently quite heavily if the cutting edge to his eyes was anything to go by, but this screw-up just made our job easier.
Actually, too easy. The reason for that was that the moment Mona used his Garu Spell on a Joy, it vanished into smoke. We all exchanged looks of surprise at this before Mona quickly passed to Panther who had the same ease. I took out the Bravery and Joker used a Persona like a woman crossed with a cat called Nekomata and Orobas to strike down the remaining two. Joker passed things over to Fox for a very good reason. Goemon possessed a Skill called Giant Slice which took advantage of the Baton Pass to make itself stronger.
The Japanese thief manifested behind Fox and swung his pipe down hard on the forger. Skull got in another hit on Azazel. The process just repeated really, Azazel kept summoning messed up fakes, not all the time but more often than not. We focused on knocking them down, either with Weakness attacks or by taking advantage of their Ailment state. Whenever one showed up without an Ailment that was when Joker and whoever naturally had the corresponding weakness would strike it down. Carmen's Trait to save on Soul Power expenditure and Captain Kidd's Trait to boost our physical attack also came in handy.
Eventually we were finally able to deal the final strike and it fell to the most appropriate person. Joker cleared off a Joy thanks to Nekomata and then quickly passed to Fox who glared at the forger, once more completely alone and looking quite ragged. He tore off his mask and had Goemon surround the cruel man in ice which shattered apart and forced the old man to his knees. With the fight over, Fox began to approach Shadow Madarame.
"No one cares for true art; all they want are easily recognisable brands! I'm a victim too! Wouldn't you agree!?" Shadow Madarame rambled. Me and Joker had to quickly grab Panther and Skull respectively since they looked like they wanted to interfere, but this was Fox's decision to make; he knew harming the Shadow could kill Madarame so I wouldn't need to do anything risky to get the warning across.
"Excuses now?" Skull mocked. He pulled slightly against Joker's grip but not with any real strength from what I could tell, even he could understand that this was Fox's task; I was probably only remaining calm thanks to a certain cat shaped thief who had assumed his cat form and was currently curled up on my shoulders with a gentle brushing of his tail over my neck working to keep me calm.
"The art world revolves around money after all… you can't rise up without any money. Yusuke, you understand, don't you!? Being a poor artist is truly miserable! I just didn't want to return to that life!" Shadow Madarame protested. That got a reaction from Fox as he lunged down to seize a hold of his mentor and haul him off the ground slightly.
"A fiend like you has no right to speak about the world of art! You're done for, along with this whole wretched world!" Fox declared. The Ruler quickly proceeded to plead for his life, but Fox simply shoved him to the ground. "Return to yourself in reality and confess your crimes! All of them!" Fox ordered.
"Y-You're not going to kill me?" Shadow Madarame asked. Fox simply demanded a promise that Madarame would confess. "Alright! Alright!" Shadow Madarame agreed. He looked at us warily slightly before turning his gaze away. "Wh-What about the other one though? The one with the black mask?" Shadow Madarame asked. That immediately snagged my attention.
"Black mask? What are you talking about?!" Joker demanded. Mona hopped down from my shoulder and quickly assumed his normal Metaverse form, Panther and Skull also relaxed but only so that they can exchange concerned looks, I pulled my hands back, but the tension seemed to be piling up hearing that sentence.
"It can't be… there was another intruder besides us within this Palace!?" Mona questioned. I really hoped that wasn't the case as this would add an unknown variable to any further Palace infiltration, plus it immediately brought to mind how someone would be able to even get in here without the Meta-Nav, which seemed to jump from Ren's phone, or my eyes.
"But how? They'd need the Meta-Nav and a Persona to get in here and survive," I pointed out. Before we could continue our discussion, the Palace decided that would be a splendid time to start shaking. "Of all the times!?" I exclaimed. Seriously, this was really bad timing especially since we had learned something that seemed incredibly important and potentially rather dangerous as well.
"There's no time! Hurry!" Skull yelled. Thankfully Mona proceeded to transform into his van form and we bolted for the vehicle, Fox climbed in last tenderly holding his mother's portrait in his grasp, I adjusted the mirror to look behind us and saw the Shadow fade away from sight right before Joker slammed down hard on the accelerator.
*Persona 5 Royal*
The destination has been deleted. Well, that confirmed it, the Palace had properly dissolved, Ren tucked his phone away as Morgana insisted that we leave as quickly as possible in order to avoid anyone getting suspicious about us hanging around here. I looked over at Yusuke who was holding the transformed Treasure, which wasn't all that different to its' form in the Metaverse, all it lacked was the golden frame.
"Yusuke c'mon," Ryūji insisted. The painter agreed and proceeded to say goodbye to the man who had taught him; we quickly made our way back into town and to the café where we sat down and a few of us ordered drinks. "I guess the mission was a success. All that's left is to see if he had a Change of Heart or not," Ryūji acknowledged. He took a sip of his coffee before grimacing heavily. "Ugh, so bitter… why'd you get it black?" Ryūji protested.
"The Sayuri," Yusuke spoke. Ryūji teased Yusuke by asking if he was going to start crying and calling out to his mum. "To think this painting was the source of Madarame's distorted desires. The only saving grace is that my mother won't know of what transpired," Yusuke admitted. He seemed truly pleased to have the authentic item in hand, which was where it truly belonged in my opinion.
"The genuine painting at his atelier has been altered, after all. Ironic as it may be, this one here is her true self-portrait now," Mona morosely commented. It was sad that the painting had been defaced in such a manner that prevented it for being truly admired for so long; but at least the artist's son could properly admire it now.
"It's a wonderful painting and, although it took some time, it's in your hands now, Yusuke," Ann acknowledged. A shame that it had taken such a long time for it to reach the person it should had been with from the beginning, but I suppose the saying 'better late than never' certainly applied to this situation as at least now Yusuke had received the message his mother tried to leave for him.
"I'm thankful for that," Yusuke admitted. He seemed to be more attached to the painting now than before he had known who had truly painted it, no surprise there. "However, it's impossible for this painting to be acknowledged by society anymore," Yusuke stated. That was honestly the worst part about all this, Madarame's actions had tainted this majestic piece for the rest of the world.
"That's a shame, everyone should know the real Sayuri," Ren commented. However, he suddenly shifted his stance as a question seemed to fill his grey eyes before he focused upon Yusuke once more. "Actually, was Sayuri your mum's name?" Ren asked. Hmm, if that was true then perhaps there would be some way that could enable someone to let it be known who the real painter was.
"I can't recall, but I don't think so," Yusuke admitted. Well, that was a shame, but I guess we'd had enough luck so far. "I must inherit my mother's wishes and improve myself even further," Yusuke decided. At least he now had a stronger motivation to keep picking up his brush, well… I actually think I feel a little jealous of him. "So, this is my mother… there's no way that I would remember her face clearly but I was right about the rush of emotion I felt when I saw this painting," Yusuke explained.
"I don't remember what my family looked like," I admitted. Yusuke turned to look at me with wide eyes as Ann clapped hands over her mouth while Ryūji choked on what he was drinking, Morgana gave me a soft look as Ren looked away and frowned. "But there are things that my heart recalls which my mind doesn't. I think that's probably it, Yusuke, your heart recognised your mother despite your memories having faded," I added on. Yusuke looked back at the painting with a heavy expression.
"So, what're you gonna do now? We're gonna keep targetin' big shots?" Ryūji asked. He was clearly trying to clear the air to prevent us from staying morose for so long, but we needed to refocus ourselves and learn if Yusuke was going to keep fighting alongside us, I wouldn't begrudge him leaving us, but I think we'd all appreciate him sticking around with us.
"Why do you do such things?" Yusuke asked. His tone was inquisitive as he looked at each of us, I suppose that we would need to answer him, I looked at the others wondering who would speak up first about the reasons that we had decided to make the choice to keep fighting back against them; we each had our own reasons and shared reasons for doing this.
"It's to get back at society and like society in general. We also wanna give courage to the people that're sufferin' 'cause of selfish adults," Ryūji answered. That was pretty much the reasons why we were doing this, both boys wanted to stop others from suffering as they had, Ann hoped to give courage to others, I wanted to stop people from thinking they were all alone and Morgana wanted his memories back.
"Courage, hm… what good does that do? You mean the courage to stand up for themselves, correct? Will acquiring that make them happy?" Yusuke asked. His tone had gone sharp as he asked those questions and his eyes were piercing into us, Ren's eyes must have built up our immunity because no one flinched, but they did look a little uncomfortable and admittedly so did I at the pointed questions.
"We can't say that it will make them happy," Ren admitted. Yusuke's gaze was like a laser as it zeroed in on him, clearly intrigued by his answer. "But if they see people willing fight those believed untouchable, maybe they'll be able to get free of such terrible situations and at least find their happiness. I'd rather give them the chance than do nothing at all and leave them to suffer," Ren explained.
"Ren's right, there's no way of knowing that. We just have to give it a try," Ann agreed. Her expression had lightened up and she was smiling again, it really was all we could do to help those suffering in silence, opening up the possibility that they might have some way to escape from their turmoil. Yusuke still seemed a bit more tense than before but at least he was relaxing ever-so slightly thanks to Ren and Ann.
"You can't really save someone else; you can provide them the tools or the places to escape. But in the end, if someone really wants out of a desperate situation, they have to save themselves," I admitted. It was something I had to realise upon meeting Shadow Ouvrard; Yusuke seemed to fully settle down as he heard my words, perhaps finding more understanding in my words than in the others.
"In other words, it all depends on the person, hm?" Yusuke muttered. That was really all that it came down to in the end, the person who was suffering. "Then the same can be said about myself right now. I also suffered because of an adult's selfish act. Moreover, if we investigate these Palaces, it may expand my artistic repertoire," Yusuke decided. I couldn't help but let out a laugh at that statement.
"You are one interesting person Yusuke," I admitted. I couldn't believe that someone actually thought they could find inspiration in such disturbing places, but to each their own I suppose; Yusuke smiled a small bit at hearing my laugh until Ryūji let out a chuckle and we all turned to look at the boy, wondering what he would say.
"Yeah, you really only think about art, huh? You're impressive," Ryūji acknowledged. The others proceeded to grin at that while Yusuke nodded his head slightly as if agreeing with the words that had been spoken, at least he was well aware that he was a little more eccentric than most other people would be.
"Well, I won't take part in any inelegant plans, alright?" Yusuke stated. We proceeded to laugh a little bit more after hearing that, I was glad that he was staying with us since it made things easier for us to have a second Physical attacker, another Support caster and an Ice wielder which removed the burden ever so slightly from Ren's shoulders.
"No worries, I've got us covered!" Ann cheered. She seemed rather happy to have another member on our team and the cheery energy spread over us like a warm blanket. "Plus, we have a rule that says we always have to decide on a target unanimously," Ann added on. Yusuke seemed surprised by this admission, but it was the best way we could manage our targets and get everyone onboard with it.
"How about it, Joker? We can give our calling cards a lot more 'oomph' if we have Yusuke on our team," Morgana wondered. All of us turned to look at the leader of our team, we could certainly do to keep Yusuke around for the poetic sounding calling cards at least – please no more from Ryūji! – Ren smiled before extending his arm across the table to Yusuke.
"We'd be happy to have you join us Yusuke, you proved a valuable asset in our fights and with your keen eye, we might be able to figure out any illusions without straining Natsumi's eyes," Ren admitted. Yusuke smiled and lifted his arm in order to rest his hand within Ren's grasp, it seemed that we had made another step in the right direction.
"Thank you, Ren," Yusuke stated. They proceeded to shake hands and then pull back at the same time; it was a wonder as to where we could go from here, we had to get through Madarame's Change of Heart before we made any other moves, but it would be nice to consider the possibilities once Mementos opened up a little bit more.
"At any rate, I'm curious… another intruder besides us, huh?" Morgana stated. And just like that, I was dragged back to the present and Ann's infectious cheerfulness was immediately wiped away with those words; I felt much more than simple curiosity regarding that titbit of information, in fact my body felt like someone had wrapped it up in ice.
"Curious? I'm deeply concerned. The other side isn't something to be known by the general public, it's too scary to know what people would do with that kind of power. It's apparent to me this Black Mask is not dissolving challenges," I pointed out. The others proceeded to look at each other at my words, perhaps realising just how dangerous this entire situation could be.
"Our only clue's a black mask, so that doesn't necessarily mean it's just one person, right?" Ann warily asked. And that just made my stomach drop like a stone, the thought that more than one person could have the Meta-Nav or some other way into the Metaverse was rather terrifying to consider; the wrong people knowing about that world was the last thing any of us needed.
"But there's no way to check anymore. The Palace is gone," Ryūji pointed out. I was doubtful we'd find any evidence of this Black Mask in there anyway, nothing had jumped out to me about that place or even Morgana, so whoever had been in there either knew enough to cover their tracks – which was too scary – or they had carefully kept to themselves to avoid leaving traces just in case, either way whoever it was, was likely a very methodical and cautious individual.
"Doesn't mean whoever he, she or they are, aren't going to be in others or even training," Ren stated. That just increased the chances that we'd run into whoever this was, we'd be at a disadvantage then since if they saw us before we saw them then we'd likely be on the receiving end of an ambush; the best bet would be for me to find them in this world.
"In the meantime, I'll try probing Madarame. I may be able to learn something from him," Yusuke decided. That could work, in his current state then he might retain some memory of what happened within the Palace or perhaps he knew who the Black Mask was on this side and had subconsciously connected the dots; but I did not like the idea of Yusuke going back to that shack to be near his treacherous mentor, pending Change of Heart or not.
"Are you sure? I mean-," Ann began to protest. But Yusuke cut her off by promising to contact us if anything happened to change, Ann pulled back with a frown on her face, but she likely knew it was best not to argue with Yusuke. "We should probably exchange our contact info with you then," Ann stated. We quickly did that and Ann added Yusuke into the group chat.
"An artist and… a member of our social activities, it seems I'll be engaging in two trades from here on. Very well, you only live once, after all. Still the incident about the other intruder does concern me a little," Yusuke admitted. With that, we proceeded to part ways.
*Persona 5 Royal*
With Madarame's condition now out of our hands, we could do nothing but wait, so I decided to focus on the homework I'd been putting off during this heist and trying to plan out what to do as I waited for anything to change. My phone vibrated so I set aside my languages work and brought it over to see what was being discussed, perhaps Yusuke had learned something important already.
Ryūji: Yo, good job guys.
Ann: We all did our best.
Natsumi: Definitely, we each pulled our weight in this fight.
Yusuke: Allow me to express my thanks once again.
Yusuke: Because of you, I was able to retrieve the painting that has been filled with my mother's love.
Ren: We're happy to know she's back where she belongs.
Ryūji: Hearing you say that makes the whole thing worth it, Yusuke!
Ann: Seriously.
Ann: I wasn't sure you'd really want to change Madarame's heart.
Yusuke: I'm sorry to have worried you. I have no regrets about it now.
Ann: And the Change of Heart WILL happen this time, right?
Natsumi: Everything went the same as the previous times.
Natsumi: No reason it shouldn't work.
Ren: I think we'll still have to wait and see.
Ren: Yusuke, I'm trusting you to keep an eye on Madarame for us.
Ann: I'm still curious about what he said at the end.
Ryūji: You mean about the other intruder besides us?
Ryūji: It was something about a black mask, yeah?
Yusuke: That may have been nothing more than a lie.
Yusuke: Madarame was quite deranged at that point, after all.
Natsumi: I don't know, making up a lie like that on the spot.
Natsumi: Plus the colour of the mask, maybe he was telling the truth.
Yusuke: For now, we should wait for his change of heart in peace.
Ann: Okay.
"An intruder in a black mask… I hope this turns out to be nothing major," I muttered. But I think in my heart, I knew that wouldn't be the case.