Here we go, next chapter and we will learn more about what happened that night that lead to her assault charge.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.

Persona 5 Royal Fanmake Crimson Arc Chapter 7

Aqua's Set Up

We return to Aqua's room in Leblanc where the Dragon Gems were well underway with their hotpot party. They had just finished the hotpot.

"Ugh…I can't eat another bite…" Uzi groans leans back in her chair.

"That was delicious, Lady Alexis." Gatomon said with a smile "I'm sure you'll make a wonderful bride some…"

Alexis yawns and lies down on the couch saying "Sorry, I'm going to have to borrow the sofa." Uzi and Gatomon were surprised and looked at her, she shoos them away before falling asleep.

Gatomon sees Zane looking down and asked "What's wrong, Zane?"

"…We haven't finished our meal. What about the porridge, or even udon…?" Zane said concerned.

"Just leave it for next time, dude…" Uzi said sighing.

They hear soft snoring and see Alexis was fully asleep and Gatomon surprised said "She's asleep already?!"

"It'd be weird if she wasn't tired. We should let her sleep." Uzi said nodding.

"By the way, Uzi…how do you know Alexis?" Zane asked her.

"Huh? Oh, we went to middle school together" Uzi explained to him.

"What was Lady Alexis like back then?" Gatomon asked her smiling.

"Not so different from now." Uzi said shrugging. "Once we got to high school, we ended up in different classes and stopped talking…I don't think she had many friends. I mean she grew up overseas, plus there's her looks. The popular kids hate her; the quiet ones stay away."

"I see…" Zane said thinking she then points to Uzi and Aqua. "So, what about you two?"

"Us?" Uzi asked surprised.

"This is a great opportunity to get to know each other better." Zane said with a smile. "You know every detail of my past at this point. It's only fair you tell me every detail of yours."

"So, you got nothing to lose, huh?" Uzi said to that. "All right, I'll tell you. It's just a normal story about a rotten drone though. My mom was taken to a home for those with craze virus when I was young…Ever since then it's just been me and my dad. I was actually tryinh to get a track scholarship so I could make things easier for him. In the end, I just screwed it all up. Turns out I'm a pretty bad daughter, huh?"

Uzi sighs looking down and continues "Back when I was a first-year, my daud got called out to school for me raising my hand at Gaston. All the teachers kept hounding him for what I did, but he just stayed quiet through it all…I'll never forget the look he had on his face though…On the way home, he…he apologized to me. For being a single father and all…"

"So that's what happened…" Zane said looking down in thought. "They say at school that everyone is equal, but in reality that's a gross oversimplification…I understand how you feel."

"Well, when it comes to getting labelled, nobody's got it worse that Aqua here." Uzi said with a shrug.

"Nice segway to me I guess." Aqua said chuckling.

"Is this about her past?" Zane asked.

"Now that I think about it, we never have heard the details." Gatomon said thinking on it.

"Well it's like this…" Aqua said and she recounts.

We go back to the incident that led to Aqua's year long probation where we come to the point after Aqua helped the woman and the white and purple drunk alien had fallen over and hurt his head.

"Damn Earth brat…I'll sue!" The alien said standing up holding his bleeding head.

The woman hears sirens and said "If you keep this up…Then I'll report about the money! Is that fine with you?!"

"All I have to say is that you did it on your own, and it's over." The alien told her.

"But…I just did as I was told…" The woman said getting nervous.

"Who do you think I am?" The alien asked her with a small smirk.

"No…" The woman said scared.

"Hey. Make this statement to the police troopers." The alien said to her "'This kid suddenly attacked me.' Got it?"

"Wait what?!" Aqua said in shock

"If you even try to say anything else, you know what'll happen to you, right?" The alien told the woman.

"Huh? But…" The woman said nervous and conflicted.

"Hey, you fell on your own!" Aqua said to the alien.

"Silence. You're done for." The Alien said to Aqua with a glare. "You're going to learn what happens when you cross me…"

Just then two police stormtroopers, one being a scout trooper, walk up to the group the burly stormtrooper said "Excuse me, folks. We received a complaint about an argument here. Is something the matter?" He then sees the alien and was surprised saying "Oh! It's you, sir."

The alien looks at the woman and said "So, what happened? Explain it to the good officer."

The woman remains quiet for a while but then said "That young woman suddenly attacked him…She shoved this gentleman to the ground and this alien man…got injured..."

"No!" Aqua said in shock.

The Alien smirks and said to the police troopers "…It's as she says. Also…make sure you deal with this so my name isn't mentioned at all. You understand what that means, correct?"

"Y-Yes, sir!" The Burly Stormtrooper said with a nod and looks to the Scout trooper "Hey, cuff her!"

"U-Understood." The think scout trooper said feeling this isn't right but obeys his superior.

We leave the flashback as Aqua was done recounting and naturally the three listening didn't like it.

"Just listening to it angers me…" Uzi said annoyed as this was the second time, she heard this story. "Bite me! You got an assault on your record just for that?"

"The woman sounds quite horrible as well. She's stayed quiet this whole time…" Zane points out

"Yeah, but I don't blame her." Aqua said to Zane "It's clear the alien guy has some hold on her so I can't blame her for keeping quiet."

"That alien is just the kind of person whose heart we should steal! Who is he, and where can we find him?!" Gatomon said to Aqua.

"It was pretty dark…so I don't fully know, I thought I recognized him before but I think I was mistaken." Aqua said sighing.

"You can't remember, huh? Well, it was at night, and I'm sure you were in shock after getting arrested." Gatomon said sighing. "I understand all too well the pain of not being able to remember important details of your life."

"The victim's personal information is always kept secret. Identifying that man will prove difficult…" Zane said "Besides, the courts already made their ruling, didn't they? Even if we manage to get revenge, Aqua's past record won't go away."

"I can't stand it…" Uzi said annoyed "This world is so messed up! The weak are left to fight for themselves, while rotten adults get away with whatever they want!"

"And those in power don't do anything to help the situation." Gatomon said in agreement.

"Can't we fix this though? Nobody would even know…" Zane said in thought. "We just need to show the world what true justice is. We'll make them come to their senses.

"You're right, Zane! That's got to be what our powers are for!" Uzi said standing up.

"Sounds good to me. The flashier our missions are, the cooler we end up looking!" Gatomon said smiling.

"You've all taught me so much." Zane said smiling

"…What're you guys getting all excited about?" Alexis said having woken up and sits back up.

"Oh, sorry…Did we wake you up?" Uzi asked sitting back down.

"Nah, not really. I've been up for a while now." Alexis said to the group. "Still, this weird feeling came over me while I was listening to you guys…It almost feels like I've known you all forever…Do you think it's because our backgrounds are so similar?"

"Well…It sure isn't because of anything good." Uzi said with a grin.

"Similar, huh…I'm the only one who doesn't fit in…" Gatomon said sadly.

"Hm?" Uzi lets out looking at him confused.

"I don't have any past to look back on…No memories…" Gatomon continued.

"What do you mean? We could search the whole world, and we wouldn't find a bigger misfit than you." Uzi said with a smile "And the reason we're going to Mementos is to get your memories back, right?"

"I'm sure your past will be just as troubled as ours." Zane said smiling.

"No doubt." Uzi said in agreement.

"Hmph, we'll see about that!" Gatomon said smiling.

"I actually feel like I've known Gatomon for a really long time too." Alexis added smiling. "It's so strange…I can't really put it into words."

"Look, I'm helping you guys out for my own sake. Don't get me wrong!" Gatomon told the four serious "If you don't get stronger, investigating Mementos won't be anything but a pipe dream!"

"That sure was a quick turnaround. One second you're depressed, the next you're acting all tough…" Uzi said to that.

"All joking aside…let's take this seriously. We should go as far with it as we can…" Alexis said thinking on it. "I want to punish those corrupt adults and give courage to people in trouble…Only we can do that!"

"Ha! You can say that again!" Uzi said with a smile.

"Being a member of the Phantom Thieves will surely help me grow, both as an artist and as a person." Zane said with a smile.

"Of course. You're under my tutelage after all. There's nothing we can't accomplish!" Gatomon said with a smile.

"Well…I hope we can keep this up. We should be all right with you as our leader." Alexis said smiling looking at Aqua.

"Leave it to me." Aqua said with a smile and the others nod.

Alexis checks the time and said "…Whoa, it's this late?"

"I guess now's a good time to call it for the night!" Uzi said with a smile.

"Oh, that reminds me! The woner said you're free to crash here, Zane." Alexis said with a smile.

"That's…very kind of him." Zane said with a smile.

"You convinced him, didn't you? You go, Miss Older-Dude-Charmer!" Uzi said with a grin.

"What kind of nickname is that?!" Alexis asked with a glare.

"Hm, I won't be able to sleep unless I take a bath…" Zane said thinking on it.

"There's a bathhouse nearby, so you can go there. I won't be able to join you though." Gatomon told him.

"Oh, that sounds great! I want to come too! How about you, Alexis?" Uzi said smiling.

"You guys go on ahead, I should get going." Alexis said to them standing up. "Well, good night, Gatomon!" She then grabs her bag and leaves."

"Dammit…I need to turn back into a human soon." Gatomon said under his breath. "I can't let her get taken by someone else!"

We then come to the bathhouse where Aqua, Uzi and Zane were relaxing wearing coverings as they relax in the large tub. With them also was an older person who was constantly turning the hot water tap, Aqua knew who this was hearing rumours about someone who makes the water in the tub ridiculously hot.

"Ahhh, huge bathtubs really are the best. Alexis' missing out." Uzi said in relaxation.

"It's a bit hot though…" Zane admits.

"Old people like it hot, for some reason…I'm sure he'll stop eventually." Uzi said looking at the old person. She then looks at Aqua "You know, I've been wondering for a while now…But what do you think about Alexis? As a fellow girl, I mean."

"I not sure." Aqua said thinking on it.

"She seems she'd be the possessive type." Uzi said with a grin "You know, the kind that does spot-checks on your texts and all."

"I'll be sure to share what you've said with Alexis." Zane said to Uzi.

"Please don't. Seriously…" Uzi said getting nervous.

"That aside, we need to hurry and find our next target." Zane said thinking.

"About that though…Is targeting famous people enough?" Uzi asked concerned. "Seeing people's reactions these days has been making me think twice about what we do…"

"…True. Pursuing only what's best is the short term may end up becoming fruitless for us." Zane said with a nod. "We need a strategy to appeal to the public…"

"Oh? What do you got in mind?" Uzi asked him.

"Do I look like someone who could come up with such a thing?" Zane asked her.

"I was an idiot for aking." Uzi said face planting the water. "But I'm on offense duty, you know? And Gatomon speclizes in stuff about that world, so…Hmmm.,…Hmmmm…Still…." She shakes at the heat gets to her and she turns to the old man and spashes the water "…Ughhhhh! It's freaking hot!" She gets out the water with her towel wrapped around her and adds "How much do you have to add until you're satisfied, gramps?!...I can't stand it anymore!"

"Yeah…there is a story about this man, he does it like some sort of endurance thing. I think." Aqua said thinking on it.

"Anyways, let's meet up again early next week. I'll contact everyone!" Uzi said calming down literally cooling off.

Soon Aqua and Zane were back in Aqua's room. Zane was sitting on the couch where he will be sleep. Gatomon was on a table lying down.

Aqua checks her phone and there was a message in the Dragon Gem's group chat and looks at it. It was from Alexis saying "Check out the pictures I took today!"

The post then shows a photo during the hot pot meal, the steam had steamed up Aqua's glasses and Uzi laughs at that while Zane helps himself to the food. Aqua giggles at that remembering.

Alexis then said, "Not bad right?"

"The steam fogged up her glasses…Another of the many charms of eating hot pot, I suppose." Zane said in a message

"Oh man…I keep looking back at this picture, and Aqua's face is STILL hilarious…" Uzi messages

"Oh yeah, Zane is still at Aqua's place, right?" Alexis messages.

"Don't go making any trouble for her, okay?" Uzi messages.

"Of course. I'd like to think I'm not THAT socially graceless." Zane messages. "All I can ask is a warm futon and a traditional Japanese breakfast."

"That's asking a lot!" Uzi messages.

Aqua smiles and puts her phone, she goes to the bathroom to get into her PJ's and goes to bed.

"You needn't worry about breakfast for me tomorrow. I'll be fine with some grilled robotic fish and miso soup." Zane said to her lying down on the couch.

Aqua nods and goes to sleep.

However soon Aqua found herself back in the Velvet Room, knowing the drill she gets off the bed and goes to prison cell bars facing Yen Sid along with the twins.

"The prisoner, Aqua Strife has returned." Gardine said to Yen Sid.

"You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!" Galla said to Aqua.

"The bonds that you have reeled in are quite intriguing…" Yen Sid said smiling. "In other words, they all have been unfairly labelled by society and are standing up against such fates. Have you noticed? They seem to have influenced you."

"Yeah, I think I have." Aqua said thinking on it.

Yen Sid chuckles and said "These picaresque dissidents of society…Deepen your bonds with them. Those will become the strength behind your rehabilitation…I look forward to it. I shall grant you and ability befitting of your newfound growth. Consider it a gift. May you continue devoting yourself to further rehabilitation."

Aqua can feel her bond with Yen Sid growing deeper. She sees her Fool Arcana card go up to rank five and earned a new ability, Super Stock which increased the number of Personas she can have in stock to 10

"More allies, meaning more of us you can have use backing you up" Arsene said smiling.

"It's almost time…" Yen Sid said looking at the time.

Aqua nods and goes back to bed to sleep.

Well that was quite a chapter, next part soon they will their next target. See you then

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