Disclaimer: Persona 5 Characters except Fujin Katsuo belongs to Atlus, this fanfic has no commercial purpose.
Akira: Everyone, to the hideout now.
That was the message Kurusu sent to the group. Everyone headed to the passageway in Shibuya station. There was a lot of rain outside as we saw it from the window.
"Alright, what's with this honor to call us when there are no targets," I said while wiping off my shoulders.
"We have some Mementos requests," Kurusu explained as he pulled his cellphone.
"Mementos request? What are those?" I asked.
"I am curious as well," Makoto said.
"I say it is a great opportunity to introduce them to Mementos," Morgana said as he began to scratch his ears,
"As you know, any person who has distorted desire isn't just exclusive to Palaces, but also the Collective Unconsciousness."
"Collective Unconsciousness?" I rose an eyebrow.
"Mona, do you mind to share the Intel?" Kurusu asked him about sharing the info from our targets.
"Sure thing, Joker." He got on the table and started to share the targets' names and reasons.
The first was a guy named Makigami Kazuya, a teenager whose gang of burglars targeted restaurants. He had good lockpicking skills but probably wasn't enough as it turned out stressful for him. He began physically abusing his younger brother Naoya for kicks. Man, what a loser.
The second target was Oyamada Shoichi; he was Dr. Takemi's boss before leaving her job. As if things weren't bad enough, he blacklisted her from the medical community and claiming all her progress for himself. Oyamada was an absolute disgrace on the medical field that he shouldn't even deserve the doctor's title.
Next was this man called Uchimaru Yuya. He was dating this poor woman and playing him like a fiddle by taking advantage in many ways possible. There weren't many details about this guy beside the abusive relationship when I asked Kurusu how he stumbled on him in the first place. The leader only told me that he needed the target to prove to a fortune teller that fate can be changed. I didn't bother what exactly he meant by that, but I wasn't there to discuss metaphysics anyway. Who was the fortune teller? Was Mifune-san? I had to narrow down since there weren't many fortune tellers that I know around the city.
And for last, much to my surprise, it involved one of my former teachers at Shujin: Kawakami Sadayo. The issue was that this couple, Takase Toshio and Hiromi, used their son's death to blackmail Kawakami-sensei as an opportunity for easy money.
Phantom Thieves VS Burglary Ring, Rank D
Bad Medicine, Rank C
Ending the Boyfriend's Abuse, Rank C
A Teacher Maid to Suffer, Rank C
I saw past requests, and they got a pretty good number of accomplishments. If one thing I had to admit, they took their job as Phantom Thieves more seriously than I could expect it. However, I wasn't able to understand why they bothered to help strangers with their problems. Dr. Takemi was logical as she provided Kurusu with the medicine for the group. Without her to supply us, minus well be screwed from the get-go.
Why bother to help people? As I said before, the only reason I agreed upon coming here was to repay Kurusu, nothing else.
After the group has done voting, we prepared everything before going to that place called Mementos. That would be the first time I ever set foot on it. After some walking and taking an elevator, we were at the entrance, our clothes already changed.
"Well, this is it, welcome to Mementos." Joker showed me everything around the entrance. It looked like train tunnels with warped railways. That place was far bizarre than any other Palace.
"Mementos, huh? I'm not going to lie, the Palaces at least have a more natural aesthetics, but this place looks utterly bizarre." I commented about everything around, and definitely, I didn't like it. "So, aside from the requests, what is the purpose of this place?"
"That's we are not sure yet, but Mona says that his memories lay on Mementos' Depths." Joker explained to me about the relation between Mona and Mementos.
"Is that true?"
"I'm not sure 100%, but I want to believe there must be answers," Mona replied to me. Well, at least he had a well-defined goal.
"Whatever is the case, I'm sure you are going to find out some other time. For now, why not let's get this over with?" I was getting ready for both of my weapons.
"So, where should we start?" Skull asked.
"Aiyatbus. I can feel one target in that path, but can't tell which area," Mona said.
"Then we are going to area 4," Joker activated the navigation app from his phone. With a simple press of a button, we transported instantly to the level mentioned beforehand. The place looked like a stop with only one train rail. There were bars in the background with people hopping in the never-stopping trains. I asked the group what's with the people there, but Mona only told me that they were heading directly to Mementos' Depths. But what was that place? Hard to say. We wouldn't reach there until much later.
Our first target was on the below areas from what we were. One thing I could comment was the place's appearance: an abandoned mine with veins flowing through the walls—a mixture of flesh and stone in every inch of that outrageous sight. Just when I thought that place gave me the creeps, the Shadows in Mementos were golem-sized monsters with uncountable masks for the face. Well, good thing that Mona could transform into a bus to explore those dark corridors.
"Who's driving?" Queen asked.
"Joker usually takes the wheel," Panther replied.
"Without a license?"
"I doubt you need one when you are driving a cat, especially if we are in logic-defying dimension, Queen," I commented. "In any case, I rather let someone with experience driving instead."
"What about you, Maverick?" Fox looked at me. However, I decided not to make eye contact.
"No thanks,"
"Why not, dude?" Skull butted into the talk.
"I said I don't want to drive. Don't make repeat myself," I began to lose my cool.
"Hey, don't get mad! I was askin', that's all..." the punk shrugged. No one else bothered to continue asking me why, but Queen was the only one who knew the reason out of all of them. She agreed to be the main driver with Joker taking the copilot's seat. Skull, Fox, and Panther took the middle row seats in the vehicle, that left me the back row all for myself. It was for the best since I probably want to be alone in my thoughts until we could kick some ass.
The trip wasn't too long, well, as the Shadows ran away from us like scared cats every time they saw us approaching. You know? For a place full of abominable things, I wasn't expecting those lowly creatures to quickly bail on us.
"What is their problem?" I asked.
"Probably they feel that we are too strong for them," Joker commented.
"Can they tell the difference?"
"Yeah," Skull interjected. "Those guys were running away from us the last time we explored Mementos."
"Just like that?" I asked with bafflement.
"Pretty much," Panther said.
What in the world creature such as them would act like people? It seemed unbelievable at first but knowing that Shadows are dark reflections from humanity. After all, some of the guards that we dealt at the Palace acted no different than us. However, there was no denying that those were still dangerous.
We traveled two areas down until Mona felt the presence of someone in Aiyatbus 6. It didn't take us too long as the place was smaller than the previous ones. Literally around the corner, we broke the chains sealing a door, and behind it, there was a black vortex where the walls and rails were twisted. I wasn't sure about stepping in, but there was no choice; it was time to give him hell.
On the other side of the vortex, we appeared in a room with more veins hanging above us further in a tunnel. We couldn't know where that led to but didn't matter because our target was standing there.
"That must be Makigami Kazuya's Shadow," Mona said.
"He looks so... bad," Skull commented.
"You don't say," I scoffed.
"We must approach this cautiously," Queen said.
"Should we try to talk to him?"
"Let me try it first, Panther," I walked towards the target first. I doubted that we would solve everything by talking, but better confirm things. "Hey, dickhead! Are you one of those burglars?" My method, as you could notice, wasn't very subtle.
"Me? Am I the one behind the burglary ring? Yeah, that's right!" Shadow Makigami began laughing maniacally. "I convinced my friends to do part-time work for me. But I'm not in the wrong!"
"Trying to make excuses now? You should be ashamed of yourself," Fox scolded the Shadow.
"No! I just meant it as a way to have a little fun, but those idiots got cocky!" That smug turned into a grimace. "And now I'm the one who's in trouble! Dammit! Why do bad things always happen to me!?"
"Bad things? What are you talking about?" Panther asked.
"Yeah, ever since I was a kid! School, society... everyone treated me like I was dirt! My little brother was the smart one, Mom and Dad's favorite. They couldn't care less about me... How can you expect me to live a normal life? I'm rebelling against this shitty society!" Makigami's tone turned into a more desperate one. We could feel the anger he was trying to conceal underneath that voice.
"You think violence and crime are rebellin'? Don't be stupid." Skull refuted.
"What did you say? You guys are thieves, too! Don't you think you're better than me, idiots! Go away!"
"As if!" After I said my part, Shadow Makigami began transforming as black goo surround him until he changed form. He looked like a man holding a dagger, but he had a floating black rock instead of legs. He pulled our weapons out, ready for the fight.
"Such a condescending gaze... I'll crush you!" Makigami extended both arms in the air, summoning a Corpse Bird and Chivalrous Fiend. What a coward.
"Rampage!" The red Shadow thrust its weapon to the ground until smoke surrounded us. It tried to hit us with multiple weak strikes, but nothing too serious, not a single one of us got hurt.
"Dream Needle!" Joker moved faster. He allowed Arsene to attack first until it was put to Sleep Status.
"Maragi!" Corpse Bird tried to take us out on the first chance, but not so lucky.
"Goemon, Dormina Rush!" Fox reacted as he punished the enemy group with a dark cloud and sparkles at them. The Chivalrous Fiend got knocked down while the Corpse Bird fell asleep. "Maverick, Baton Pass!"
"Got it!" I exchanged a High-Five to the artist while feeling the effects of Touch N' Go skill. No hesitation, I let Faust handle things. "Double Fang!" In a brutal action, my Persona began biting the Corpse Bird as beef jerky, or in a more fittingly, chicken drumstick until it was down. I could act again. "Rakunda!" I aimed toward Shadow Makigami.
"Zorro, Lucky Punch!" Mona was behind me. He used a weak but tricky attack that allowed to down the Shadow as well. All enemies down, we aimed our guns at them for the Hold-Up. Joker gave us the signal to unleash an All-Out Attack. From all angles in a flash, we gave our all to the enemy group. The damage was vast, but far from done.
"You start to piss me off!" Shadow Makigami yelled at us while we could see his eyes turning red. "Mabufula!" He threw ice spikes at us before we could react, some of us got hit, but Panther got the worse. That was enough for the Shadow to move again. "Sukukaja!" His speed increased, and he wasn't done. "Magarula!" As he extended both arms in the arm, wild bursts of wind engulfed us. Panther was out of the fight after suffering too much damage, and Skull went flying away. "Marakunda!"
"Alright, enough already!" I started losing my composure. Joker stepped up and fought back as he used Arsene once again.
"Eiha!" Dark slashes emerged from the ground at Shadow Makigami, but that asshole was already faster. He effortlessly dodged the attack. He let the Chivalrous Fiend use Rampage once again, and we received too much than we could handle. Skull, who was already down, was next out of commission.
"We have to act defensively," Queen commented as she decided to use Rakukaja on Mona, who he was our best chance to survive.
"Thank you!" Mona said as he got ready with a determined look. "Zorro, Media!" He began healing the group except for the unconscious members. The energy we regained was more than the usual amount.
"My turn!" I pulled my sawed-off shotgun and started blasting all the enemies. Corpse Bird was dead. "Baton Pass, Queen!"
"Understood!" She followed my signal and got ready to attack. "Johanna, Mafrei!" Two energy balls appeared on the enemies, and the Chivalrous Fiend was gone for good. Our target was the only one left on the field.
"Let me help!" Fox used one Revival Bead on Skull, getting him back to action.
"Thanks, dude," the punk cracked his knuckles while getting into position. "It's payback time! Zionga!" Captain Kid appeared with lightning from above. Considerable damage which also caused Shock status. Defenseless. Shadow Makigami was immobilized, which gave us the chance to end the fight.
Joke pulled his pistol. With a barrage of bullets until he emptied the clip, Shadow Makigami screamed until his form was reduced back to his pathetic self. Never thought our first target of the day would give us a tough fight.
Queen helped Panther to get up again and handed the medicine to everyone. We shifted our sight towards the target.
"Just what are you, Phantom Thieves, anyway? This is impossible..." Shadow Makigami was on his knees, sobbing. "I get it now. You must have heard from my brother..."
"Now think about what you've done," Joker's response sounded like a man grounding his kid.
"You just realized that now? Wait, you already know how your brother feels, then!" Skull's comment made Makigami remained silent for a couple of minutes until he looked at us in the eyes.
"He did this... for me..." He pulled something from his pocket. "That's the key to the chest in my room. Give it to my brother... You're supposed to be the excellent kind of thieves, right...?"
"What!? Why would we do something like that for y..."
"Skull, shut up," I interrupted the punk in a scorned manner.
"What!?"
"Just do what he says. There's no harm in that," I said, but Skull only scoffed before he would focus back on the Shadow.
"Anything you want to tell him?" The punk asked the target.
"Well... Hehe, burn what's inside or throw it away, I guess." Shadow Makigami wouldn't stop sobbing until he returned to his real self. A little ball light appeared, transforming into an old key. Joker picked it up and examined it. There was nothing but sentimental value.
"What're we gonna do about that Treasure?" Skull asked the group.
"We'll give it to his brother," Joker said.
"Yeah. It's no use to us, anyway," Panther said.
"What will we do? I can give it to him since he goes to my school," Fox's suggestion was sound, but Mona shook his head.
"No. I'll just sneak it into his house. I think that's the best way..." No one objected to the cat's idea. However, the upset Skull began looking at me.
"Also, what the hell, dude!? Why you have to tell me to shut up!?"
"What? He was already on his knees, there was no danger after beating his ass," I replied nonchalantly while turning back to the vortex. "Besides, that shouldn't stop us from acting with decency after they ask us something."
No one said afterward. I didn't hope anyway. After hearing the complicated relationship that Makigami had with his brother, my mind wouldn't stop bugging me. Jealousy could make any person act impulsively. How far, you ask? I couldn't say for sure. That sort of business shouldn't be my problem at the end of the day, and yet, I couldn't help myself from digging deeper.
Phantom Thieves VS Burglary Ring: Completed
After leaving that place, Mona couldn't feel any targets in Aiyatbus. It was time to move on as we found the stairs not too far from where we were.
We reached the final area: a lineal short hallway with more trains on both sides. There was already an open door ahead from us. Trying to look further was enough to give me the creeps.
Our next stop? The Chemdah Path.
Unlike Aiyatbus that had shades of blue in the lighting, that place had hues of yellow. A very putrid ambient that would make anyone feel sick by merely standing there.
"I can feel our next target close. We have to move to the next area," Mona said, louder than the engine's roar. Queen drove around the place while breaking some walls. There were hidden chests with small loot. Curiously, during our exploration, we found weird floating cubes on our way. Those things transformed into materials, jewels, or precious metals that seemed very valuable. As the group explained to me, those were useful resources. That seemed more like fake in my eyes at that time. At most, that trash would at least worth a few Yen at most.
I only hoped that carrying that wouldn't slow us down during work.
"Huh? Our target is in this area."
"Are you sure, Mona?" I asked.
"Guaranteed."
I couldn't expect to find the next target that fast. Almost wanted to take a nap while exploring. That's work, after all. We went through different turns, even breaking more walls for shortcuts. That's when we finally found another vortex.
"So that's the Shadow of that doctor, Oyamada," Mona pointed out once we reached the other side.
"That bastard looks like he's been eatin' well lately," Skull commented as he clenched fists.
"Hmm. The doctor made a mistake in rushing a drug's development, and now intends for his subordinate to take the fall." Fox looked pretty serious; he was getting ready with his katana at hand.
"People might die if we don't change his heart! And a good doctor will have to quit…!" Panther was on fire, ready to give some punishment.
"Yeah. We gotta do something!" After what Skull said, we got pretty closer to the Shadow.
Taking a few steps, and Oyamada seemed that he was enjoying the moment.
"Fwahahaha! Everyone is trash…!" Oh man, he was one of those entitled shitheads. "As head of the medical office, I'm superior to everyone! I deserve all your respect! You should be begging me to examine you! Be grateful I have the compassion to fix you trash!"
"Give it up!" Joker yelled at that asshole doctor. The Shadow wasn't pleased to see him.
"Ah, you're that kid who was at Takemi's. So how's she doing? She was so depressed when she heard her patient died. Oh, I'm so worried about her. Poor girl… Hehe… Hehehe…" He did a sadistic smile. "Hahahahaha! It's been so long since I've felt so exhilarated! Did she quit being a doctor yet? If she hasn't, then tell her she better hurry it up!"
"You're the one who should quit," Joker said, nicely done.
"Wha-!? You dare talk to me, your superior, like that!?" He looked upset about hearing someone defying him. "Grrr… Your diagnosis is Arrogance with no chance of recovery. I better treat you right away! And I'll blame your death on Takemi messing up again!" Done talking, the Shadow changed into a baboon while holding a book; that guy looked less intimidating than I could expect it. "Feel the power of medicine!"
"Awww, look at that. Isn't that cute? He looks so pathetic." I was taunting him because of his inoffensive form.
"Don't get too confident; we don't know what kind of power he has." Queen was trying to ruin my mood.
"It can't be that bad," I replied. Before I could notice, the Shadow launched two energy spheres to us. Those were painful. "Gaaah! What the hell was that!? I never thought he would be that strong!"
"Megido, an Almighty spell," Joker told what kind of attack was.
"Megido? Like the one Madarame used against us?" Fox exclaimed with a surprised look.
"Yeah, but that was a cheap knock-off. This one is real!" Skull was feeling not so great about that attack.
"Is that so? Then allow me to give him a double dose of Vitamin Pain on that ape!" I exclaimed while feeling angry about how stupid I looked for getting too cocky. "Faust, Terror Claw!" I made the first to give us a better advantage. That wasn't enough.
"Persona!" Skull summoned Captain Kidd while thinking what attack should be useful. "Assault Dive!" Cap rushed towards the Shadows, hitting from the ship's back, doing moderate damage.
"Matador! Swift Strike!" Joker used his Persona, dealing four hits on it, which was a lot of damage.
"Sukukaja!" Fox gave a boost on speed to himself, just in case.
"Concentrate! Tarukaja!" The Shadow was charging for an attack, too bad he would not live for the next.
"Terror Claw!" I landed the last hit. That guy didn't stand a chance from the beginning.
"Gaaaaah…! Vital signs, diminishing..."
Just like that, he returned to his original form.
"How come…? How come I'm not good enough…? I want to save people's lives. And I want to do something great and help make medical history. But I'm just a mediocre doctor. I've only gotten promoted because of my university connections." Despite hearing him sobbing, at least got some regrets, but I didn't care, though. "Takemi, though, was so creative. She had all these ideas, and her techniques were extraordinary…! Everything I ever wanted: fame, and prestige, she earned in just a few short years… I was jealous of her. That's why I tried to take all credit for her new drug…"
"You are an awful person," Joker commented.
"Ha…Haha… If only there were a medication that works on jealousy…" The Shadow fell silent for a moment. "Takemi's patient isn't dead." That surprised Joker of what he said. "I thought she wouldn't recover, so I moved her to the hospice wing for terminally ill patients. But that patient didn't believe my diagnosis. She ended up transferring to another hospital. Of course, transferring to another hospital makes our hospital and university look bad. That's why I made everyone tell the same lie: the patient chose to leave the hospice, and then died. She doesn't have much time left, but maybe Takemi could do something about it." And just like that, the Shadow returned to his real self, leaving a card as his Treasure. Desperate times required desperate actions, but that was pettiness of what he did.
Bad Medicine: Completed
"Impressive leadership… Well, what's next? Do you want to continue exploring?" Fox asked our leader for our next move.
"Yes, we should head for our next target." And so we moved on, but I felt disappointed for some reason.
"Hey, it's something wrong, Maverick?" Queen asked me, pretty curious about my reaction.
"I was expecting more of a fight, but he didn't get the chance to counter-attack." I couldn't tell much how I felt, not impressed, that's for sure.
"That's true that was a difference in strength, but we are not here only to fight Shadows. We are trying to help other people right too." Queen was trying to lecture me. Of course, not my problem.
"I know that... But felt like an empty victory if you may ask." I even the targets on Mementos didn't impose much of a challenge. The previous one wasn't as much of a letdown as Oyamada.
We continued investigating Mementos until we could find our next target: That abusive boyfriend. That was actually on the next floor. However, finding the exit was a pain in the ass.
We have been exploring for quite a while as enemies kept ran away from us. The uneventful time made us talk about trivial topics like what they did during the week, or sometimes, doing stupid stuff that would annoy me quickly.
"I've been workin' on the railroad, all the livelong day~" Skull started to sing that old song.
"I've been working on the railroad, just to pass the time away~" Mona followed the lyrics. I hoped they wouldn't keep singing all the way because exploring Mementos was dull. Nothing unusual happened. Still, at least the conversations kept my mind busy.
"Mhhh, Ushimaru-sensei's chalk throwing had been helping me to improve my reflexes against Shadows," Joker commented.
"Is that old man still doing that? I guess some things never change in that school." I scoffed. The simple thought that Joker turned into the new practice target since I left made me chuckle.
"I think today was the sale day at the supermarket near me!" Fox sounded excited.
"You're a frugal shopper, I see. Impressive." Queen said with amaze.
Our little tour became stale by each second we spent our time there. If that wasn't enough, some of the random Shadows we fought instantly died when Joker ramped into them without giving much of a fight.
Of course, things became weirder as soon w e as arrived at a lower level. When you see train rails, you logically expect trains of any sort, right? Hah! Nope. What I saw, much to me and Queen's confusion, was a little boy driving a rather large buggy while carrying too much junk in the back.
"Hello, Mister!" He waved at us while driving further at Mementos with high speed. I took off my mask to rub my eyes with hopes that I wasn't losing my mind. That strange boy had egg-shaped white hair, yellow eyes, and wore a thick winter coat.
"What the hell!?" I said while trying to maintain my composure, but should've known better since we were in the Metaverse anyway.
"Follow him, Queen," Joker said.
"Huh? Are you sure? Is he not dangerous?" Queen replied with concern.
"Don't sweat it. He's cool," Skull said in such nonchalantly way. That wasn't reassuring at all.
"His name is Jose. He helps us around in Mementos," the leader explained to Queen and I since we didn't meet the strange kid before. Queen followed Joker's order to tail the kid while avoiding Shadows on the way. Too bad the place was a labyrinth because we ran into unnecessary dead-ends. Did we go in circles as well? Unbelievable.
After failed attempts and wrong turns, we saw lights at the end of the corridor. Star-shaped light bulbs and a small camp settled by the strange boy. He'd been waiting for us. "I'll be back," Joker said as he was the only one leaving the bus.
"So, what's the deal with this kid, Jose?" I asked while trying to stretch the legs.
"We don't know much about him," Panther said, "We met him the first we entered Mementos."
"And why is he here?" Queen asked as she touched her chin.
"Collecting flowers," Skull said bluntly.
"Flowers, what for?" I raised an eyebrow.
"He said that he wants to understand humans,"
"Wait, so he isn't?"
"That's what we don't know," Mona replied.
"You know what? Forget that I asked," by that point that every time they answered me, two or three more questions popped in my mind. Why the Metaverse had to be so weird? The best I could do until then was to take a nap.
"I'm done, let's continue," I heard Joker getting inside the Mona-mobile. The leader bought some recovery items by trading flowers to Jose. I refrained from asking any more unnecessary questions.
We kept moving until the next target, and boy, I never had that colossal wish to return home and hit the bed. Good thing that Lala-chan told me that we got a new part-timer for tonight's shift. I still haven't met the new guy or girl yet. I didn't care who was except that I could go to sleep early.
Alas, we reached the vortex.
"There it is. That should be the Shadow of that man named Uchimaru," Mona said as we looked the target ahead.
"Doesn't he look like he's worried about something?" Skull said.
"But he's abusing his girlfriend, right?" Panther replied.
"Oh, man, didn't her fortune teller say that she's gonna get seriously hurt?"
"Either way, let's get this over with." I yawned.
We took a few steps until we got close enough to confront the Shadow. I could tell that he didn't seem much of a threat to us at a quick glance.
"Dammit... I gambled away all my money again..." the target would stop whining. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! Where is she? Get over here, so I can beat you!"
"Don't beat your girlfriend!" Joker shouted at Shadow Uchimaru.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaat!? Don't you dare lecture me! She's mine! I can do whatever I want with her! Beating her is a right that only I have! I'll have you know that she loves it too!"
"Didn't your mother teach you about hitting defenseless women are cowards' stuff? I guess you gambled your balls, too." My taunt was enough to send that guy's nerves pretty quick.
"If you wanna get in my way, then you're gonna diiiiiiie!" Uchimaru transformed into a brute with no face. He might be big, but not that scary. "I'm gonna punch you too!" He tried to attack me with his blade but barely did anything to me.
"Stop wasting our time! Evil Touch!" Faust's roar was enough to make the target tremble.
"Nice work, Maverick." I heard the leader congratulating me. "Rakshasa, Tarukaja!" Joker boosted Fox's offense.
"Allow me to deliver retribution," the artist held his mask with fierce eyes. "Goemon, Bufula!" His ice attack landed a direct hit that made our target knockdown and freezing it at the same time. He did Baton Pass with Skull for the finishing touch.
"Captain Kid, Rampage!" Three strikes and that Shadow was out of the park like a chump.
"Why'd it... turn out... like this...?" Uchimaru reverted to his normal appearance. "I hate it, I hate it when people look at me like I'm just a bug to them... I can do better... I'm a superior human being..." We could see him holding tears. "All people around me just don't get it..." After he stopped talking, he went back to his real self, leaving his Treasure: A Sleep Stick. That seemed a new weapon for Skull, pity the strength, though.
"Phew... The right to beat his girlfriend? He was really worst of the worst to think that," Mona gave a disdainful look on the target. "We changed his heart, so let's go tell the fortune teller when we get the chance."
Ending the Boyfriend's Abuse: Completed
"That douchebag was nothing but words at the end of the day." After receiving that attack, it wasn't enough to keep me awake. Couldn't stop yawning.
What a disappointment, just when I thought those targets couldn't get any more boring, one accomplished even more to lower my expectations. After that fight, nothing was interesting to see until we reached the 7th floor of the Chemdah; Mona detected the targets' presence nearby.
"Stay focused, everyone," Mona warned us. We took our weapons and ready to crash some nasty people.
Once inside the portal, we saw a couple standing there, smiling with so much hatred.
"Those Shadows must be the guardians of the student named Takase," Mona affirmed.
"Those two look pretty sure of themselves. Real smug lookin'." Skull commented with disdain to them.
"So they're blackmailing that teacher, Kawakami, by using that incident where their child died." Fox didn't like the situation.
"But Kawakami-sensei did nothing wrong, right? We have to help her!" Don't worry, Panther, that's why we were there in the first place.
"Are you ready? Let's go." We started to get closer after what Mona said, and they got on my nerves as soon as they started talking.
"Money, money, money! Hurry and pay us with your money! It's your responsibility!" said the husband.
"Clothes, handbags, makeup… There are too many things I want!" The wife followed with the sentence.
Good grief. Just when I thought Kaneshiro was bad enough when it comes to being a greedy whore.
"Hm? You're Kawakami's students…? Did you come to bring me money?" The husband noticed Joker; he wasn't happy, though. "That incompetent teacher is so worthless! She should be grateful to be a source of income for me!"
"You're incompetent!" Joker yelled them off in a pissed tone, never thought to see him act like that. I took mental notes of never anger him in the future.
"Shut up! Kawakami got in my way! I was going to use what happened to my son to get back at people!" They got angry with each second.
"Get your own fucking money, you lazy bums!" I yelled at those assholes. I got dumbfounded after hearing those scums acting so self-entitled.
"I'm not gonna lose… I won't lose to elitists like you!" After the husband finished talking, the couple transformed into two fairies.
Oh boy, two by the price of one.
"I don't like your attitude!" said the King Fairy
"Take them down!" the Queen Fairy added too.
Queen started the first strike, sending Mafrei to them, the King Fairy resisted, but the other one didn't.
"Maragi!" Panther summoned Carmen, incinerating those two assholes; Queen Fairy was weak to fire. She used Baton Pass on Joker, getting a boost for the next attack.
"Neko Shogun!" Joker summoned a cat in samurai armor, casting Psio to the King Fairy and knocking him down. Both Shadows were kissing the floor. "Do you want to do the honors, Maverick?" Joker asked me to deal the final blow.
"It would be my pleasure." Joker gave me the Baton Pass while I made a slasher smile. I felt stronger after that maneuver. "Oni Kagura!" Faust appeared and leaped towards both enemies, doing massive damage but not enough to defeat them.
"One more, huh? Shiisa!" Joker changed for different Persona; he used Double Fang on the King Fairy, defeating him.
"My turn, Agilao!" Panther once more exploited the Queen Fairy's weakness, knocked her down."Queen, Baton Pass!" The girls exchanged places, making Queen even stronger.
"Feel my rage!" She used Freila on the remaining Shadow, finishing them once and for all.
"Y-You bastards…"
"They… took us down…"
They screamed in agony. Despite not posing much of a challenge, I couldn't help myself to strangle the couple.
"You're looking down on me, too? Deep down inside, you're laughing at me, aren't you...?" The husband spoke.
"Names brands; esthetic appointments; without them, people will laugh…" The wife was feeling ashamed of herself due to their status.
"What are you talking about?" Joker asked them, and I just decided to turn my back and not look at them out of anger.
"We're terrible human beings. Our son, Taiki, and his birth parents were different… His parents were both high-level elites at big-name corporations. Always looking at us coldly… That's why I let our son experience what it's like being forced to grovel!"
"It felt nice to see gradually break down from working so much…"
"You are terrible human beings." Joker scolded them.
"I guess this is why everyone's looked down on us… I'm not sure now if Taiki's birth parents looked down on us…"
"I was happy as long as I was with Toshio, but I forgot all about it. I became obsessed with money…"
"Taiki was a good kid…" Just like that, they returned to their real selves, leaving a whip as their Treasure.
A Teacher Maid in Suffering: Completed
That was the last Target for that day. Joker asked us to continue exploring the lower levels in Chemdah.
What was my experience in Mementos so far? I rather not indulge in many details besides the fact the targets were a nasty bunch. What drove those clowns to act like animals? I could barely call them people since they acted more like animals. What a messed up society, even when I believed that couldn't be worse. I guess I was wrong and still too naive to think that.
The following floor was the last in Chemdah Path. It looked similar to Aiyatbus, but the door was sealed. No more road. I walked towards it and tapped on the wall. Clearly too tight that no excessive use of brute force could open it. "How do we open this thing?" I asked.
"We don't," Joker replied, but I still couldn't understand it.
"What do you mean?"
"Usually we wait some time to open it. Although we have a theory about how it works."
"And what's that theory? Because at this point, nothing should surprise me anymore." I shrugged.
"The more the public likely acknowledge us, they would allow us to get further in Mementos." Such a simple explanation from the leader was enough to raise some curiosity.
"Are you saying that we can get there the more we get popular? Just like that?"
"Pretty much," Mona said.
"Alright."
"I think that's all for today. Good job, everyone!" Joker said as he used the Navigation App to return to the entrance.
It was a long day for me that my back started to kill me when I returned home. How could they handle things like that between that and school? I could barely get the hang of it while balancing it with work. Well, I would prefer to stick to the real world, thank you.
Hello, while this isn't important, I was thinking about the unique Katsuo's outfits during battles and in P5D. I'm only putting at the end of this chapter because I don't want to interrupt anything and felt that were niche ideas.
-Feather Vulture (Brown Featherman)
-Disgraced Baseball Player (Shinada from Yakuza 5)
-Resistance Leader Coat (Roland from Digital Devil Saga 2)
-Night Host (Trisha from Catherine)
-Ghost Cowboy (Halloween outfit)
-Elf Costume (Christmas outfit)
-Veteran Armor (Geirin Kuzunoha from Raidou Kuzunoha series)
-Grease inspired outfit (Dancing in Starlight)
-Daft Punk inspired outfit (Dancing All Night)
-Yasogami High Uniform (But he gets the Gag Glasses)
I would like to hear ideas for unique outfits, but that would be for another time. Hope you liked the chapter.
