Alright, so I got the Results, and most people voted to keep the two as PTs. So Akuma and Shinobi stays in the party! I changed it to a new poll: Should I include filler stuff, like Social links and side missions? i'll be waiting until I finish the Kamoshida Arc until i get into that more, which should be enough time for voters to choose.
With that outta da way, Part two go!
"WHAT!?" The four other thieves yelled. Mona rubbing his ears at the cacophonous burst of noise.
"They've been taken by guards, they've just past us!"
"B-But how!?" Skull shouts. "We took them home earlier!"
"Maybe… maybe they have the same app we used to get here. You got it when you first arrived." Joker answered, suddenly the humans turned pale at such an implication.
"It could be possible…"
"Oh no… don't tell me they got here on their own!" Skull shouted out, actually breaking a table with his slammed fist. blinking in surprise after the sudden burst of strength, his shock turned back to anger in a pin drop. "Dammit! We let them out for safety and they just came back in by themselves!"
"... an app…" Noir mumbled to herself, looking down to where her own device rested. "Maybe that means that I have it as well… questions for later." she thought
"Regardless, this just now changed into a rescue mission! Let's go save them!"
~Lead the way Mona!~
Running out the door, the group of five ventured deep within the palace, following the guards that held one of the newly captured intruders. Aside from looting a bit more on the side, killing off a few shadows who got in the way, and having to backtrack a bit, they finally arrived at a door with two muffled screams echoing inside. Slaying the last set of guards after they threw in the third intruder, the group of five opened the doors… only to catch the sight of many naked girls lying around the whole room.
"W-What the hell!?" Skull shouts, nearly stepping on a cognition of one of the nearby schoolgirls, who whined at him stepping over her. "Is this what he thinks of the girl's volleyball team!?"
"How indecent!" Noir added, looking away with a heavy blush on her face.
"Guys, Focus!" Mona hissed. "They're right there!" true to his claim, there in the room with them, was a prone Mishima, Ann and Shiho tied to x-shaped stands and shadow Kamoshida snarling at the newcomers, with shadows of the three students fawning over him.
"Why the hell do you twerps keep coming BACK!?" the ruler yelled in rage.
~I don't know, why the hell do you wear a pink mankini you prick!?~
"Please get us down!" Shiho pleaded in terror. "I… I don't want to… to…"
"Just what's all this about!? I'll call the cops on you if you don't let us go right now!" Ann shouts out, trying in vain to break out of her restraints.
"I've been disrupted from my private time with my princess and mistress, and what do I find; a set of wannabe doppelgangers!"
~yeah, Our bad~ Draco sighed sarcastically. ~Those three are with us, and we'll be taking them back now, if you don't mind. Just… shut up and give them back.~
"Just where do you get off, talkin' like that to ME of all people!?"
~I don't know, you tell me!~
"Enough of your quips, Draco! We have some hostages to save!" Mona shouts back, pulling out his scimitar just as everyone else arms themselves. With a snap of his fingers, a sudden pulse of energy reverberated across the room, releasing Mishima from the shackles he was bound to as Joker ran in and took out the nearest guard in a surprise roundhouse.
"Dammit, I was aiming for all three! Mishima! Are you okay!?" Joker yelled out, helping the blunette up from the floor.
"I-I'm fine, Akira…" he whispered.
"It's Joker in this place…" he whispered back, pointing his finger at the guards near the bound girls and shooting out black rays at the armored enemies.
"And why are you helping him up? He's a traitorous dog just like the rest of you!"
~running around this shit-show wouldn't be called a traitorous thing speedo-man.~
"You don't even know what I'm talking about and you still have the balls to speak to me this way!?" shadow Kamoshida snarked. "You should be aiming your weapons at him; HE was the one who ruined your chances of living peacefully."
"What…?" Joker said, looking down to a now trembling Mishima, who slowly turns away from his gaze.
"...It's true…" Mishima mumbled, looking away with unyielding guilt. "... I did it…I-I leaked your files to the whole school…."
"WHAT!?" Skull shouted out, caving a Berith's head in with his bat.
~Jesus, Mishima, what the shit!?~
"I-I had to…" the blunette continued, pointing a shaky finger over to the Tyrannical teacher. "He threatened to go after my mother if I refused…"
"He threatened…"
~your mom…~
"For THAT!?" Skull yelled. "Now I'm really gonna kick your ass!" he jumped up, gripping a bicorn's face with his hand, and with the grappled beast howling in pain, skull roared out, electrocuting the shadow with a powerful surge of lightning. still fueled by the burst of anger, he drags the spasming horse and throws it at the wide-eyed Shadow Ruler, who narrowly avoids the flying beast... at the expense of a few more knights behind him taking the damage instead.
"S-Skull! No killing remember!" Noir said, narrowly swerving past a charging Pixie and Cait Sith.
"First, he broke my leg and ruined the track team on purpose, then he abuses and molests the volleyball teams, and now he's going after people's Loved ones!? Aw HELL NO!" Skull roared, raising his metal bat, which has since then gained a steady build up of charge.
"What's the point anyways? He just sat there and obeyed like the little bitch that he was, just like little Shiho here."
"W-wha?"
"I bet you just followed around because that's the only thing you're good for; following others."
~Piss off, ya nutjob! Leave her out of this!~ Draco shouts out, stomping the ground as multiple entering shadows fell down a now freshly formed hole in the ground.
"A wannabe bitch, a worthless waste of space and a wimpy coward; the trifecta of unbearable!"
"Alright, that's enough! Zorro! Garu!"
~right away!~ the Spaniard outlaw echoed, materializing and swinging his blade, but was intercepted by a few of the guards.
"Kill them!" Shadow Kamoshida ordered. "But keep the girls alive; I might give them some reason to keep living before their execution."
"N-No!"
"P-Please help!"
~Fuuuuuuuu-~ Draco yelled back, flying away as a group of guards attempted to dogpiled him again. This time however, he got himself out… ~Nice try you- Bagh!~... only to get knocked over yonder to the far side of the room be a much larger Knight in Crimson armor!
"Draco!" Joker Shouts out, clashing with two more Beriths.
"Crap, Not again!"
"O-oh my…" and once more, the group of thieves were surrounded by shadows.
"no...No…" Mishima stuttered, looking on at the scene before him, tears leaking from his eyes as he seemingly struggled in place. "I… have to help… but… but…"
"~familiar, isn't it?~"
a calm, smooth voice echoed within his ears, ringing within his mind and drowning out the outside voices around him.
"~ standing here, gazing into the eyes of those you care for taken hostage in a dangerous scenario… it's just like her way back then…~"
"N-No.. NO Not again...!"
"~You want to help, but your fear of the past haunts you into silence… but that is merely a fabrication. You want to help them, do you not? Then throw away this fearful charade.~"
Meanwhile, Shiho looked onwards at the very same scenario.
"No… is this… how I die? Being worthless to the end? I couldn't help anyone… I couldn-"
"she's doing whatever she can do for your sake! Don't throw that all away! Don't throw HER away!" Ryuji's words from before echoed through her mind.
"No... I-I can't let it end like this... Ann, I don't want to throw her away." Shiho whispered, her fists clenched as those words echoed through her brain on repeat. "Not now.. Or ever again.…"
"~then Don't~"
a feminine voice entered her mind, drowning the message in an instant with their serene echoes...
"~ don't call it quits just yet, there are still things you've yet to achieve on your own… you say you have no meaning? Then grab fate by the reigns and make up your own!~"
While this was going on, Ann looked at the approaching knights, swords raised, in fear.
"Is this.. How we're going to die? My punishment for… what happened to Shiho…? " she whispered. "Shiho… I'm so sorry…"
"Ann! Mishima! Shiho! Don't give in!" Joker shouts, back-stepping from a guard swinging his blade.
"Huh?" all three look up from their positions, watching the group fighting off the small horde of enemies bit by bit.
~this asshole's just making you feel bad! You guys can do this!~
"Don't let this Dickbag get you down… we can do this… Together!" Skull shouts, blasting some of them back with Zio.
"... you're right." all three students answered simultaneously.
"Letting this piece of shit toy with me… what was I thinking…!?" Mishima shouts out, standing up to his full height as he glared down the cognitive Kamoshida
"Letting others walk all over me… that's isn't the way to go..." Ann said, her eyes flashing gold for a brief moment as with a sudden burst of strength, she managed to break one of her restraints.
"Letting people say I'm worthless… I-I'm not worthless..." Shiho, whispered to herself, a white glow slowly grew from her form as a wispy aura swirls around her.
"Quit your bitchin'! slaves should behave an-"
"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" all three shouts together, shocking the king into silence as he unconsciously takes steps back..
"I've had enough of this…"
"I'm not worthless… and I won't take it from anyone anymore!"
"I'm done with this… No more wussing out!"
"~right answer. But of course it was; I know you better than anyone else. Now why don't you have your brawns join your brains like they're Always meant to be?~"
"~splendid! This is only the first step, now come forth, your new journey shall be legendary!~"
"~My… it's taken far too long…~"
a third voice said, echoing through Ann's mind, all three writhed in pain at the voices in their heads.
"~tell me… who's going to protect her if you don't?... forgiving him was never an option...such is the scream of the other you that dwells within…~"
"~I am thou, thouartI~"
"~Take up thy soul and pierce the world to victory, cry out thy name in pride and glory~"
"~Succumb to thy fury and help the helpless… just like you did all those years ago…~"
"~we can finally forge a contract… and end this man's reign once and for all…~"
"I hear you… Carmen." Ann whispered, the area around her heating up to staggering degree as the metal behind her begins to melt behind her, wisps of smoke danced from her body as she steps forward. "You're right… no more holding back!"
"Right… no more… I won't forgive you… I will NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" Mishima roared, unyielding rage poured out the male in a flaring wave of energy as he turned to face the shadow Ruler.
"I will prove I am useful… or go down trying… and Nobody is going to stop me!" Shiho screamed with a burning resolve and a flashfrom her white aura, a burst of blue flames surged through the three, making the two girls free themselves completely as three masks formed on their faces. A red cat like mask for Ann, a band like mask for Shiho, and a demon looking mask for Mishima.
"~there you go… nothing can be resolved by restraining yourself. Understand, then I'll gladly lend you my strength!~"
"~ very good. Now, Take up thy weapon and strike the wicked, for the glory of thy life!~"
"~Another spectacular answer. Now go! Raise thy fists and paint the world RED!~"
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!" All three screamed, ripping off their masks with blood flying everywhere, soon all three burst into azure flames, forming a triad of infernal light.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Skull shouts, ignoring the sudden hit he just took from a Silky's Bufu.
~OH SHIT!~
"Not Again!" Kamoshida whimpered.
The light faded down with astonishing results; three more entities were now seen within the room. One had the appearance of a femme fatale dancer, dressed in a luxurious red gown with two humanoid puppets with heart shaped heads chained together near her. The second, a female knight with various knives, plates and an odd looking curved spear in her hands. The last of the three appeared to be a teenage male with glasses wearing a cross between a wizard's garb and a strategist uniform, various floating hand like contraptions orbited around the male.
That wasn't the only change, however, all three students stood triumphantly, each wearing different sets of clothing entirely. Ann's was changed into a vermillion skin tight leather suit with a cat like tail, Mishima took on the appearance of a monk fighter's gi with a demonic looking set of features such as horns and pointed tail, and Shiho's change of clothing looked to be a cross between a kunoichi garb and a knight's armor, with most of it ninja-esque with added knight greaves, pads, and breastplate.
"Arise, I call upon thee Joan of Arc; strike him down!" Shiho commanded, the knight being bowed in response. A light shone on her hand seconds later, revealing an odd looking crossbow in her grasp, to which she unloaded a torrent of arrows onto her cognitive self.
"Kamoshida! When I'm done with you, you'll regret EVER crossing this Demon!" Mishima growled, his fist glowed a dark purple as he stalked towards the terrified shadow, with a single thrust of his arm, the purple arm pierced clean through the cognitive Mishima, the fake disappearing as the real one tossed him aside like a used rag.
"Alright, let's take them all down Carmen!" Ann shouts, the femme fatale nodding in agreement. "You've taken everything from us… you tried to destroy us… now it's your turn!" with a flick of her wrist, a burst of flame erupted from her hand as a whip manifested within her grasp. with a mighty swing, Ann struck true with her weapon, cutting her shadow self clean in twain.
"Joan! Rapid Fire! Save our friends!"
"Artemis! Fury Fist!"
"Agi Carmen!
Waves of light beams, energy fists, and fireballs flew everywhere in the room, killing off most of the shadows, and leaving behind only the shadow king, his Crimson knight and a few stragglers.
"I'll put an end to your reign… I'll rob you of everything!" Ann shouts out, each step she took lit the floor she stood on aflame.
"How dare you… enough of your insolence!" the Crimson knight and straggling guards morphed into A large ogre-ish like Demon sitting on a toilet, the remaining two stragglers formed an elven lady in a dress of silk, and a Small, cackling red hat wearing Gremlin holding a sickle.
"Huh… uuwaahahha!" Kamoshida yelped in fright, running out the room and leaving the pooping demon to the eight fighters.
"How dare you deny king Kamoshida's love, you selfish lass!? Pay for your insolence with your lives!" the toilet demon bellowed.
"That Dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets!" Ann retorted. "Don't make me laugh with this "love" bullshit!"
"Come closer and I can show you some Tough Love, you scumbag!" Mishima growled, clenching his fists readily.
"Let's defeat these monsters, Joan!" Shiho exclaimed, aiming the crossbow within her hands, and pulling the trigger, letting loose a shortened arrow bolt directly towards the toilet demon, only for it to be deflected by the Gremlin with it's weapon of choice
"Yeah! Let's give 'em Hell!"
~mind if we joined!?~ Draco announces, the earlier five joining the group now that distractions were out of the way…
"Y'all ain't got no where to run!" Skull yelled out, "There's 8 of Us, and only 3 of you!"
"Don't Disrespect us, BOY." the elven lady speaks, her hands forming various winds around her. "Know your place and return to your hole like the Trash you Are!"
"Only if you go first!" Joker retorted, his eyes glowing a blinding silver as in his hand forms a cross shaped glyph, a larger circle of similar appearance forming underneath the fae woman.
"W-What!?"
~Get 'em!~ Draco shouts out, channeling out spell after spell betwixt his fingers.
"On it!" Both Ann and Mona shout out, each taking out their respective weapons and lashing out at the demonic creatures before them, the whip bouncing harmlessly off the Goblin's Sickle, but Mona's scimitar ringing true and cleaving one of the creature's legs off.
"Now! All out attack!" Mona said as he, Joker, Skull and Reaper lunged at the demon, damaging him every which way, in the middle of this, Mishima joined in, followed by Noir, Ann and Shiho. Soon everyone was dealing massive damage to the demons which was, this time, able to finish off the shadows.
"I-impossible…" the demon bellowed, struggling to get back up before dissolving into black ashes as it breathed its last breath.
"H-hey! Where'd that perverted freak run off to!?" Ann shouts, looking around the room for the scantily clad conqueror.
~the lil' Bitch ran out on us when we were fighting the Lackeys!~
"Hurry, Afte-" Mishima barely got out before slumping down to one knee. "W-what's happening!?"
"O-Oh no…" Shiho mumbled, nearly collapsing herself. "I-I can't move m legs!"
"What's going on!?" Ann shouted, the last to drop of the three newly awakened.
"You've probably used up all your energy for the awakening to your persona and fighting the shadow…" Mona answered, trying (Read: failing) to help the three up to their feet.
"More importantly!" Skull intervened. "Why'd you come here!? We took you guys out for your own safety!"
"Hey, is that how you speak to a lady!?" Mona shouts back, once again causing the two to initiate another squabble.
"..by the way… what is that thing? Is it alive…? How can it talk?" Shiho asked, making Mona pause at that ...only to get back to yelling at Skull about a bobble heads.
"Calm down. I have some friends who'll explain everything. We just need to get to a door." Joker announced, pulling out the velvet room key and walking to the door from earlier.
~everything's fine now, so don't worry.~
"How are we supposed to calm down!?" Ann screamed out, finally making it to her feet. "What the hell happened to us, who are you? and WHY IS THERE A TALKING CAT!?"
"... is now a good time to go over our new outfits?" Shiho asks, Pausing Takamaki's rant and causing the three to look down at themselves in shock and curiosity.
"Why am I dressed like this!? When did I-"
~you're just now noticing the clothes change!?~
"Ugh, what's with this!?"
"I said calm down." Joker said, walking back to the group. "I've opened our gateway. Let's take this conversation to a more… fitting place."
Just as they were about to head out of the now destroyed room, a sudden twinge surged up Joker's spine... which didn't go unnoticed by Draco and Mona.
~Hey man, you good?~
"Something... Something doesn't feel right..." Joker said, looking around the room. his ocular sweep landed on what appeared to be a painting of the Shadow Ruler... a low, almost invisible red light hummed and flickered softly from the piece. Making his way to the painting, whispers and echoes were heard in the black clad leaders head as he inspects the painting. gripping the hung portrait and hoisting it from its mounted place, the human, spirit and Cat creature look on in surprise as the painting revealed a hidden opening.
peeking out from the opening, the three heard the whispers echo louder than before, looking up, Draco nudged the other two as he points upward, revealing a ledge with the same red light, now at a stronger intensity without the wall covering it.
"Huh?... What's going on there?" Mona Asks, climbing up to Joker's shoulders "It looks like it's on a higher level then here..."
"I don't know..."
"Hey guys! what's going on over there!?" Skull shouts out, the trio looking back to the rest of the group, with Skull and Noir helping Shiho, Ann and Mishima up near the door. "Somethin' weird going on?"
~Nah guys, just a little thing we found. give us a minute.~
"Well how are we gonna get up there, we still need to get the others out of here." Mona asked.
~Don't worry about that, I got it.~ Draco announced. ~Hey guys, we'll be right back!~ Grabbing Joker and Mona, Draco pull the two out the pathway, lifting the two up to the ledge. after a bit of effort, and nearly dropping Mona halfway through, the trio make it to the top of the platform, finding a small corridor with a door at the end. the red light practically pulsing out the closed door as various caution tape and vines wrapped around the door in front of them.
"... What... What is that?" Joker Asked, walking up to the barricaded door with the other two in store.
"I don't know... But I feel something familiar about it..." Mona answered, pulling on the tape himself. "A bit concerning that it's barricaded seems like these tapings and vines are enchanted."
~don't worry, I got this.~ Draco said, grabbing several wrappings from the door. a silver light met his rainbow colored one as he pulled inward, ripping through the enchanted barriers as if it were the normal equivalent of the objects. ~See, there we go.~
Opening the now unbound door, the three shudder as the whispers and echoes ring out as disembodied voices, all shouting out over each other as the three look over to what was inside; a vine tree stump like pedestal stuck out ominously in the center of the chamber within. Held within the pedestal itself is a singular glowing skull like object, the very item itself being the source point of the Red glow and the voices reverberating from the room.
"I-Is that...!?" Mona spoke out, taking a few cautionary steps towards the jewel. "It IS!"
~It's what? a giant piece of rock candy?~
"It's a Will Seed!" Mona clarified, pointing to the pedestal. "It's a separated form of their distorted desires! kinda like a mini-treasure! it serves as a sort of extra foundation for the palace!"
"Really?" Joker asked, looking at the pulsing red crystal. "then if we take it then the foundation will crumble..."
"Something like that, I can at least guarantee that it'll make this place weaker..."
~-and us stronger.~ Draco finished for the guide, getting a nod as confirmation. stepping up to the ominously glowing gemstone, Joker slowly reaches over... and picks it up. A sudden jolt of energy dances up his arm, various screams ringing within his brain as the jewel dims with a final distorted hum. ~Shit What WAS that!?~ the spirit mumbled, shivering at the sight of the sinful seed. ~Even I felt that , and I wasn't the one touching it.~
"Well, whatever it is, we'll worry about it later." Joker addressed. "let's go before we're ambushed again." With two nods, the trio left the room, hushed whispers tickling the back of the black clad rogue's mind with each step away from the cursed chamber.
"Welcome back Trickster and friends." Philemon greeted. "Once again, you have graced us with more comrades. I see that most of them have awakened to their power."
~Yeah, it was kind of unexpected, but not entirely unwanted.~
"I see… and I presume you want me to address the situation to your newfound comrades?"
"Would you mind?" Akira inquired, gesturing towards the newcomers. "They do deserve to at least know what they went through to an extent."
"Not at all, Trickster, anything that aids your quest will take top priority, whether it's explanation or execution... Now, If you mind, go speak with Igor and Nyx; they are over there with a present we've made for you. I shall inform your new guest on your predicament."
Nodding, Akira, Arata and Ryuji, who stepped away from both Philemon and Morgana's assisted explanation, walked over to the far side of the room, locating the butterfly next to a separate table with about four chairs next to it, the previous woman in black smiling back at them.
"Greetings, Trickster, and to you as well Chariot."
~Hey Igor.~ Arata greeted. ~Phil mentioned something about a present you two made, then told us to come to ya.~.
"Indeed we have. I present to you; the Armatas Ring." The old butterfly scooted off to the side, revealing a single black ring with a blue stone on the top. "Apologies, this is the only one we've managed to make so far. It will be the very thing that grants you access to one of our new facilities for you; the power of synchronization."
"Oh, Yeah… you said that we needed more spirits to have access to the facilities…" Akira added. "did that have to do with my Wild Card ability?"
"Indeed Trickster. The powers of the Wild Card are numerous, but a common ability of this power is the capture and usage of spirits. They take take the form of Personas for you to use. I assume you already have a few?"
"Yeah we do!" Ryuji cheered lightly. Akira nodded and opened his palm, then focused as several masks appeared out of his hand.
"As expected of the Trickster. Let's see… a Pixie, a Bicorn, a Pyro Jack, and a Mandrake, not a bad starting collection." Nyx chuckled, toying with a few of the masks between her fingers. "Though knowing you, I'd expected some unorthodox additions..."
~well, we encountered an elf mage and a Redcap, but they died before we could get them.~
"You mentioned other facilities including this synchronization thing, could you tell us more about it?" Akira asked.
"Of course; our three facilities are relatively new, so even we aren't able to fully utilize it's maximum usage at the moment, but they will still be useful nonetheless. Synchronization, the first facility, will center around this ring. As long as you wear it, then you will be able to synchronize with a persona, granting the user with even more power. I shall explain more when the time is right." Igor informs. "The next facility, Dismantling, is a bit unfortunate, but necessary. It requires you to take a persona and break it down, granting you items, ingredients and even some miscellaneous additions as well. However, you will lose the Persona forever."
"Wow, For real?" Ryuji whistled out. "Man that sucks... wouldn't that, like eff up you mind or somethin'?"
"So long as it's not used excessively or misused, then it's fine."
"Yes, it is a bit like one of our older facilities, however this is one of two ways you can gain ingredients, which is used for the third facility; Assimilation."
"Assimilation…?" Ryuji repeated.
"Correct, by using special items, Ingredients we call them, you can enhance and upgrade a Persona, weapon, armor, and even certain abilities manually. There are two types of ingredients, normal ingredients for enhancing and catalysts for upgrading, and two ways to obtain them, by dismantling or finding them in the world."
"...um… "
~One lets you combine with your persona, the second breaks it down into items and stuff, and the third uses some items to make them stronger.~
"Ah… right." the blonde nodded along. "That make's a bit more sense... I think."
"Hmm… what do you lot think?" Akira asked the floating masks.
"I'm ready for anything!" "Jack wants to help master!" "as unfortunate as it is, I shall do what I must if it's to aid you." "Uhn… Uhn.." the four additional persona answered.
"Alright. I'll use these facilities, but only on those who volunteers for it; I'm not going to do it if they don't want to." Akira continued.
"As expected of the champion of humanity. Well then, I shall begin the operation."
~wait, you can do that?~
"I may have my power sealed away, but that does not mean i am truly powerless." Igor answered. "Let us begin…"
After a few minutes of going over the procedure, dismantling Pyro jack and Mandrake, and enhancing Arsene, who gained two rare abilities called Drain Bless and Deathtika, (Igor mentioned something about specific ingredients for specific persona can bring forth never before seen power.) the three persona users reunited with the other four after Philemon finished speaking to them. With a few more minutes of adding their input and plan to the mix, everyone's conversation now turned to a new topic.
"Hey… are you guys alright?" Akira asked.
"Y-yeah… it's a lot to take in." Ann answered.
"Demiurge… Wild Card… Confidants? I can't keep up with this info." Mishima groaned, Shiho nodding in agreement.
"I agree with that, but still, you're being used in a rigged gamble… and the whole world's at stake. I can't just let that stand now that I know of this." Haru continued.
~Yeah, and as Phil probably already mentioned, we can literally weaponize friendship to beat him.~
"I know that too, it's just…" Ann replied.
"Just what?" Ryuji egged on.
"E-everything's happening so fast… I don't know if I can readily accept you as a friend THAT quickly."
"Wha-" before he could say anything else, he yipped in pain as he yanked the flying, clawing cat off of his face. "OW, What da hell, Morgana!"
"Can it, you moron! she said not THAT quickly." Morgana hissed. "Let them talk!"
"Why you little..."
~Then you just need a little time to get to know him first, right?~
"Pretty much… Arata right?" Ann nodded. "I know this may sound selfish… and wrong given the situation, but.."
~Hey, hey, you don't have to force a relationship to happen. Besides, that won't work anyway; the bond needs to be genuine.~
"Thanks, I know this isn't the right time, with your life and the world at stake, but I'll still help whenever I can."
"Same here." Shiho added. "You lot saved me from making a big mistake… I wish to thank you by helping you in this game your in."
"I agree. I… I may have ruined your chances at Shujin, but I promise. I'll do whatever it takes to atone for what I did." Mishima stated. All of a sudden, a warm feeling washed over the group, and Akira heard the same voice from before…
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou has acquired new vows…
they shall become the wings of rebellion,
That breaketh thy chains of captivity…
With the births of the Lovers, Moon, and Knight arcana,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power
~Aaaaand we don't have to worry about that anymore anyways.~
"And you know this… how?" Mishima said, helping to separate the two bickering boys behind them.
~Soul Pact with Kira here. We practically share each other's souls. Comes with some risks, but it's worth it of you find the right person.~
"That reminds me… I've still got some questions." Ryuji proclaimed, looking at the male. "Just how long have you and Kira been together?"
~around like 5... yeah, 5 years.~
"How?"
~...well… maybe another time I'll go over the full story, but long story short, he saved my live twice, he almost died in an accident, and I repaid my debt to him by forging a Soul pact and saving him. We've been friends since.~
"...wow.. I… damn." Ann muttered. "i don't know what to say to that..."
"Yeah, we don't really talk about it much."
"You said that the bond has to be genuine…" Mishima asked. "How could you tell when it's formed?"
"Well… I get this warm feeling inside me, then I hear a lady's voice…" Akira stated, gaining the attention of two of the main residents.
"A voice…" Igor whispered.
"It tells me that I've birthed something called an Arcana, then I feel stronger a few moments afterwards. It happened with Ryuji and Morgana."
~I'm able to hear it too, because of the soul pact, and with the bonds forged, I can see your souls a lot more clearly, just enough for my to unlock some of your potential.~
"That's… useful…"
Maybe you should return to your world." Philemon intervened. " you all must be exhausted after the events of today. We shall continue this in the next time that we meet."
"Yeah…"
~See ya guys.~ Arata waved off, the group of eight leaving the room.
"So, now that we're back…" Ryuji started, an eerily sweet tone in his voice.
~Oh god, what are you thinking about Now!?~
"We've made QUITE the number of discoveries today, don't you think." Ryuji continued in the same sweet voice, which turned more monotoned as he went on. "and I do believe that we ALL agree on the next course of... actions...right?" the way he spoke out that last wordwith such barely contained, venom was overwhelming by the other seven, so thick with malicious intent that if words could hurt, that single phrase alone would cause a full on massacre.
"L-Look Ryuji, I-i know that we've disrespected your intentions, and we've had some problems on the way, but… Ryuji?" Ann stuttered, but looked in confusion as Ryuji turn and walked off. "Did...did he just ignore me?"
"...I-I think he did... he's not stopping at all..." Shiho mumbled, furrowing her eyebrows at the fleeting male.
"... wait…. OH CRAP!" Mishima yelled in panic, which prompted the Blonde to full on sprint in the direction he was going at the shout.
~What? What's going on!?~
"That's the direction of the PE faculty room!" Mishima shouts, running after the Blonde. A few seconds of realization cause the rest of them to follow suit. "RYUJI WAIT!"
"Dammit Ryuji!"
~Oh goddammit, why now!?~
"Ryuji, don't do something stupid!"
"Ryuji… RYUJI!?"
"Sakamoto, Please think about this!"
"KAMOSHIDA!" Ryuji roared, practically kicking open the door, the rest of the group joined shortly after.
"What do you want now, kid; I'm busy!" said man in question droned back, barely looking to the source of his disturbance.
"You bastard! Don't play it off like it never happened! We know what you tried to do with Shiho! AND for what you did to Mishima!"
"That is enough!" Kamoshida snapped, facing the group. Arata and Morgana suppressed a snicker at the teacher's half bandaged face. "I don't have to take some half assed bitching about my coaching to some failed reject and his posse."
"What you did… wasn't coaching… it was torture…" Mishima whispered.
"What did you say, boy?"
"You ordered me to call Suzui here…You tortured us… all of us.. On purpose!"
"You didn't stop there either…" Shiho chimed in behind the males. "You...you tried to..to…"
"What do you got to say for yourself!?" Ann shouted out, standing before Shiho as if to hide her from his gaze. "She almost died, and we ALL know it's your own damn fault!"
"You're going on and on about things you have no proof of." Kamoshida sneered, waving of their claims, unbothered by the malice rolling off of Ryuji alone.
~Sakamoto, don't you FUCKIN' dare say shit about our recordings.~
"But." Morgana protested.
~shush! He doesn't know that we recorded stuff yet! Let's keep it that way.~
"You're simply just making stuff up because you're jealous that you aren't on the team, right?"
"Like hell I'd ever want to be in anything with you in it!"
"That's not what this is about and you know it!" Mishima growled, his rage seeping into his voice.
"Even if that's true- hypothetically speaking- what are you gonna do about it? A delinquent, a criminal, a wuss, and three ladies who should've minded their own business."
"Say that to my face you Asshole!" Ann yelled, Haru and Shiho holding her back.
"Shiho almost died because of you!" Haru added.
"You.. goddamn…!"
"This again?" Kamoshida sighed. "Do I have to act in "self-defense" once more, Sakamoto?"
"Self defe- you broke Ryuji's leg on purpose!"
"Shut the hell up, you son of a bitch!" Ryuji yelled, readying a fist. Before he threw a punch, however, Akira grabbed it in the nick of time. "What the- Why're you stoppin' me!?"
"Ryuji. DON'T" Akira answered simply. "it's what he wants you to do! Don't let him get to you like before; it's not worth it."
"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise." the teacher gloated. "There's no need to hold back. C'mon, sock one right here!, just don't be surprised when I hit back!... ohhh, right, you can't. Of course you can't!"
~Keep talking Speedoman! I'll plug up your Yapper right now!~
"Everyone present right now… will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting."
This declaration promptly surprised all eight members immensely.
"Wha-!?"
"You can't do that!"
"Who'd seriously consider what scum like you say? You're just as responsible as these idiots are Mishima. A shame that three beauties will suffer the same fate as you clowns. Enjoy your last few weeks here while you can!" Kamoshida shouts out elated at the reactions he got. "Make peace with whatever crap you guys had going for here, before you pack it up and leave."
"W-wha!?"
"Don't act innocent; you were the one who leaked his criminal records, didn't you?"
"YOU threatened to go after my FAMILY if I didn't do as you said!"
"I don't have time for this, I've got expulsion papers to prep! Your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight!"
"You're not getting away with this, Asshole!" Ryuji roared, everyone practically dragging the blonde out the room.
After spending the rest of the day calming down Ryuji (and to a lesser extent Mishima), exchanging numbers and Text I.D.s, and pawning off all the stolen loot they've acquired, Akira, Arata and Morgana finally made it to LeBlanc's. However, there was a rather interesting addition to the usually empty café. Sitting in one of the booths of the coffee shop was a woman in a punk-rock style outfit, chatting it up with Sojiro.
"Thanks again for the coffee, Sojiro. This really made my day." the woman thanked, the barista in question nodding before noticing the three.
"Ah, you're back early…" the old man stated. "Hopefully with no issues?"
"Nah... well, kinda..."
"Kinda?" Sojiro Repeated, his tone low and narrowed eyes locked onto his own.. "Elaborate."
"Well, me and my friends did stop another student from attempting suicide, but aside from that, I've been a saint, I swear."
"Stopping a Sui- KID."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't NOT help, I've dealt with enough Suicides back at home, and It was a friend's friend that was going to drop, I had to..."
"Hey Soji, mind introducing me to the kid?"
"Ah right...Kid, this is Tae Takemi, she runs a clinic near here. Tae, this is Akira, I'm his ward for the year." he sighed. "Why don't you head on upstairs? I'll clean up down here kid." Sojiro said, his eyes definitely sending the message 'We're not done talking about this' laid loud and clear to the spectacled ravenette.
"Nice to meet you kid." Tae greeted.
"Likewise." Akira replied, nodding.
~My god, this is awkward…~
"Well, like Soji here said, I run a clinic near here. that being said, don't come running to me for no reason." Tae got up and headed out the door. "Thanks Soji, same time next week?"
"Sure." he answered. "Come back again." and with that, the Barista and the trio were left alone. "Alright kid, shows over, Now-" Looking over to the teen, the elder nearly did a double take at what he saw. for a brief moment, he saw in the teens eyes... grief.. despair... guilt... sorrow... things that shouldn't be seen on a teenager EVER, before a few blinks hid all those away, masking them all with an almost eerie sense of tiredness.. "That look... that's supposed to be on war vets or... NO... don't think like that... What the fuck happened for the kid to have THAT look... Kids shouldn't have the looks of...of..." he thought, sighing heavily as he set down the last glass on the counter. "-go on and head upstairs, you look tired."
"Got it…"
Nodding one more time before making it to the stairs, they barely made it to the bed before his phone vibrated. Taking it out, the three joined in the recent chat.
Ryu: Hey guys, sorry about earlier…
Yuuki: I'm sorry for nearly starting a fight with you.
Floof: the important thing is, everyone's calm now.
Ann: but that leaves the entirely new problem; our expulsion.
Yuuki: don't worry about that.
RenRen: ...why?
Yuuki: I've hacked into one of the admin computers at the school… barely…
Yuuki: I've managed to find out the date for the next meeting.
Yuuki: we have until May 2nd before our expulsion, so if we're doing your palace idea, then we should get it done before the month's over.
Shiho: well that's certainly… something to work off of…
Ryu: plus, it'll get us enough time for at least one more vid for our scapegoat.
Floof: scapegoat?
Yuuki: what are you on about now Sakamoto?
RenRen: We plan on stealing the treasure to make him confess,
RenRen: and to make sure we hid our traces of using the metaverse,
RenRen: we gather records of his misdeeds to use as a red herring
Ryu: that way, people will think he confessed out of guilt instead of us making him.
Ann: … that's actually a good idea.
Yuuki: how far along are you guys?
Ryu: well we got two recordings of volleyball practice…
Shiho: and a recording of that… event… from before I presume?
Ryu:...
Shiho: it's alright, Ryuji. I've connected the dots. Morgana and Arata were the ones who saved me, but I figured they came by for a different reason.
Ryu: sorry about that…
Shiho: it's fine, as long as that monster gets his just desserts.
"Tell them that we should find a hideout to have our meetings in." Morgana suggested. "We'll need someplace private to discuss our next order of business…"
RenRen: Morgana suggests we find a hideout.
Floof: ...what about the roof?
Ryu: oh yeah… that'll probably do.
Ann: why?
Floof: Ryuji and I are usually the only ones up there at all.
Yuuki: that could work. Alright, let's meet there tomorrow.
After taking away his phone, then three decided to head to bed.
Saturday, April 16th
Cloudy
Shujin Academy
Afternoon
"Just where are those two!?" Ann growled impatiently. Six of the eight thieves were hanging around on the roof, as planned, but surprisingly, Ryuji and Akira were nowhere to be seen.
~Akira told me to meet up with you guys.~ Arata shrugged. ~something about losing his log journal.~
"Log journal?" Mishima repeated, kicking a stray can to the side. "Why does he need a log journal?"
~he's supposed to write down everything he did for the year in a diary. Part of his probation. He made a second journal for the metaverse journey because of something about stress, but we've encoded it with a basic cypher...~
"Well, that explains Akira, but what about Ryuji?"
Meanwhile, a minute after Ryuji and the others initially left classes, Sadayo Kawakami, the teacher he was in class with for the day, noticed a light vibration in one of the desks. Curiosity flooding through her, the teacher walked over to the table, only to find a simple phone, still on, vibrating inside.
"That Sakamoto…" She rolled her eyes, just before she was about to turn the phone off, however, a particularly curious text on the device caught her eye. "Take down the king? What?"
Looking around the room, she gazed back into the device in her hands. "I really shouldn't be doing any of this…" she whispered, but for some reason, she couldn't look away from the oddly out of place text in front of her. Looking around once more to confirm she was alone, she went back to her desk, and sighed lightly. "Well, maybe just a little bit.. oh god, I'm so fired if people found out..." she pressed the text, which opened up a set of messages with some attachments as well.
(Posted on Jan. 13th)
Ryu: hey man, you guys got anything yet?
RenRen: yep, Morgana and Arata got 5 minutes worth, plus a few pics.
RenRen sent volleycannon (jpeg),torture (jpeg) , and agonysession (mp4)
Ryu: that two faced bastard!
Kawakami nearly dropped the phone at the sight of the pictures. Volleyball members getting brutally bludgeoned by softballs and struck by poles and nets took up the screen. For the sake of her stomach, she scrolled past the video link, not liking the sense of dread from it, and continued reading.
Ryu: we'll be able to get that Kamoshita the justice he deserves with this.
RenRen: we'll keep trying to get evidence, you can work on finding those who'll testify.
Ryu: will do, gotta go.
(posted on Jan. 14th)
Ryu: any update?
RenRen: we got another vid, and some pics of him molesting the girl team.
Ryu: what!?
RenRen sent moreofthis (jpeg), painful (mp4), and perversion (jpeg)
Ryu: that prick's pickin' on both teams… but I never thought he'd try this!
RenRen: calm down, we'll get him, just don't blow our cover.
Ryu: I know, I know.
Kawakami was even more disgusted at the new set of images, especially the one where Kamoshida was seen sticking his hand in the female member's pants and shirts. Once again, she skipped over the video.
Ryu: just a few more, and we'll sent that asshole to jail like he deserves.
(posted yesterday)
RenRen: Ryuji?
RenRen: Ryuji we've got bad news.
Ryu: what?
Ryu: dude what happened?
RenRen: remember Suzui, that friend you mentioned?
Ryu: ...yeah, why?
Ryu: … Kira? Arata? Morgana?
Ryu: you're scarin' me…
RenRen sent hewillsuffer (mp4)
RenRen: Arata said they'll explain, just meet us near the vending machines.
opting to sate her curiosity one last time, she pressed the last video.. And instantly regretted it. 2 whole minutes of Kamoshida beating and sex assaulting Shiho was the only thing she saw, and the rather hilarious ending of a cat clawing his face ended the shocking post. This time, she almost lost control of herself, but she swallowed back the bile in her throat as she closed out the chat and turned off the phone. Placing it on the desk ,the teacher stared blankly at the room, a million thoughts echoed through her mind.
Just as she began pondering the new information, she heard a rapid set of knocks from the door to her side, a familiar tuft of blonde visible at the window. Panicking for a few seconds, she composed herself.
"Come in!" she shouts, Ryuji opening the door as he looks at the teacher apologetically.
"Sorry, Teach, I think I left my-"
"You left your phone?" she finished for him, gesturing the device neatly on the edge of the desk.
"Oh thank god!" he shouts, pocketing the phone, and thanking the teacher. "Sorry again." he turned to leave.
"Wait… I have a question.." Kawakami hastily answered, silently cursing herself all the while. "What… do you think of the teachers here?"
"Eh?"
"Like, which teacher's your favorite and which one's the worst?"
"That's easy; that shitty gym teacher Kamoshida's the worst… and… if I had to guess… I'd choose you as the best teacher, I guess… well, the one I tolerate the most at least."
"O-oh…"
"W-Well, gotta go, thanks for finding my phone, bye!" Ryuji yelled quickly, running down the hall, and leaving a stunned Kawakami to herself...
Makoto Nijima was a lot of things, and she felt like understanding was one of her more prominent traits…
That was before she read the clusterfuck of chaos within this handwritten book she found.
At first, she found the book on the floor in the middle of the hallway, halfway opened and nobody near the object. Curiosity getting the best of her, she took up the book, headed back to the student council office, and decided to read the small book to pass the time. Now she wished she hadn't.
Gods…
Metaverse…
Palaces…
Shadows…
Persona…
From what few words and phrases within each page in the book she read added 20 more questions to her ever growing list, and none of it was answered when she got to the supposed end of it. and to make matters worse, EVERYTHING in the book is a jumbled hodgepodge of different languages, from Kanji and Hiragana, to Mandarin and English, there were even some words in Latin. and every page of this book had each sentence butchered and stitched together with different spellings and words from these languages, not to mention the few words that made NO sense at all. "Thank god for all those extra language lessons..." she sighed, mainly because it kinda stopped at one point, which surprisingly made her a bit angry and frustrated. In any other case, she would've passed it off as a partially made fiction… but the surprising amount of detail and familiar names she did managed to translate proved otherwise. This little amount information somehow… somehow managed to convince her that it's real, but she wasn't exactly sure if it was, and it frustrated her to no end. She was about ready to chuck it out a window before she bumped into someone…
Who just so happened to be Ryuji.
"Gah! What where you're goin- oh, Ms. Prez…" Ryuji growled, but mumbled when he looked at the person.
"Ah, Sakamoto… my apologies."
"Nah, I'm sorry, I wasn't lookin' where I was going."
"Hmm, well I guess we're both in the wrong then." she stated, her mind practically begging her to ask him. "Actually, I wanted to speak to you about something…"
"Really? I know I'm kinda bombing a few classes, but I'm still-"
"No, no it's not your grades… its something a bit more… personal." Makoto clarified, looking around the hallway. "I just want to know one thing."
"Oh, uh, sure thing… but can this be quick? I've got some friends that I'm supposed to meet up with…"
"Of course. Now…" leaning in, Makoto asked in a serious tone. "I found this journal near Kurusu's locker and I wanted to give it back, but… what I've read in there was astounding. I wasn't able to understand all of it, but I just wanted to see if everything in it was true or not since quite a bit of it featured you in it, along with this Arata and Morgana. So. what is this all about? Does all of this stuff about Palaces and Persona exists?" she then handed the book over to the blonde. For a strictly brief moment, Makoto saw a small but noticeable twinge of fear and panic on the male's face, but he managed to compose himself as quickly as it started.
"What? Persona? wha-OH, that." Ryuji started, surprisingly not a single stutter in his voice. "Now I remember, Akira wanted to make a game about gentleman thieves. I suggested he made a story first beforehand, and to use real life people as placeholders for when we make characters for it."
"A...game?" Makoto repeated... "This book, so heavily written, is a Game script?"
"Yeah, I even suggested to use our names in it for now. Arata and Morgana are just names of his friends from his hometown."
"I see…" Makoto trailed off, she knows damn well that Ryuji was lying his ass off, but she said nothing about it.
"Well, thanks for finding it for him, prez I'll be sure to give it back to him!" Ryuji yelled, stuffing the book in his blazer and continuing his race down the corridor. Once again alone in the hallway, Makoto sighed in anew mixture of feelings. She knows that Ryuji made that lie to cover it up, but unless she had proof of what they're trying to do with it, she couldn't be fully satisfied. Also this could be potentially dangerous to other people, and that was something she wasn't going to let go; her pride as the Student body president wouldn't allow that, period. So with nothing else to do, Makoto followed after the Blonde, unknowing of the confused look from a door down, also pondering over what was said, as she makes her way down the other end of the hall.
And the second part is complete! Now Kawakami and Makoto are starting to get in on this and we're well over the halfway point. Can this continue? Probably.
Anyways, for those who're curious as to why I pumped out these chapters in rapid succession is because I have some form of reference-the actual game- to go off of. All my other fics are either originally created plot-wise or having a lack of reference for it, meaning it very loosely follows canon.
Now for some minor things:
- The Black beast has, For the most part, been rewritten, with the previous chapters revised and expanded on. The new chapter for that is currently in development, and I'll focus more on that once I finish the Kamoshida arc and start the Madarame arc.
- Should I include filler here or no? on one hand its good to have some time to expand the characters a bit more, both canonical and OCs, but on the other hand I understand if it would look like it with turn the fic into a Slow burn type situation. I'll set up a poll for it later on.
- should I do social link stuff in the fic? kinda piggybacking off the last question, should I include social link events in the fic as well, or should I keep that off screen?
with that, I bit you all adieu for now!
TBC