4/15 Friday
She looked at the conversation over and over again.
Ren: I spoke with Takamaki-san. Kamoshida's been pressuring her into all sorts of things.
Makoto: Like what?
Ren: Today, he threatened to take her friend Shiho off the volleyball team unless she slept with him.
The more times she read it, the sicker she felt. With every new detail she learned, the more shocked she was that this had been going on for so long.
She partially blamed herself, but what about the other staff members? Surely, they had to at least suspect something.
When she arrived at school, she saw Ren happily munching on some Yakisoba Pan.
"I see you've got the school store's special item." she commented.
"I didn't know they had this!" Ren grinned. "It's amazing!"
"They only have them on Fridays." she pointed out. "And they sell out fast."
"I guess I got lucky." Ren figured.
"Say… Ren?" Makoto called. "About what you told me over text…"
Ren sighed. "I feel kinda bad, since she said to keep quiet."
"I know, but it'll all be worth it when we expose Kamoshida for what he is." she encouraged.
"Were you thinking of talking to Suzui-san?" Ren asked.
She nodded. "I don't want to pressure her, but this is one of our only leads."
"Then let's talk to her around lunchtime." Ren suggested.
"Good idea." she nodded.
They went to their classes, hopeful that their plan would work.
But right when the lunch bell was about to ring…
"Isn't that one of the volleyball team members?"
"What's she doing up there?"
"Wait, is she going to jump?!"
Her classmates' comments immediately caught her attention.
Concerned, she rushed to the window, pushing past her classmates to see what was happening.
She let out a gasp, seeing Shiho standing at the edge of the roof.
"No…" she whispered. "No!"
She had to hurry! If she ran as fast as she could, she could make it to the roof on time to stop her and-
"Oh my God!"
She turned back around, eyes widening in horror as she watched Shiho jump off of the roof.
She stood there in stunned silence, unaware of the shocked gasps and screams of the students around her. All she focused on was Shiho's body falling… falling, until it hit the ground.
Eventually, she snapped out of her stupor. "I… I need to… I need to see her."
She ran down the stairs as fast as she could. By the time she arrived outside, an ambulance had already come to bring Shiho into the hospital. She saw multiple people pulling out their phone, which made her want to scream. Scream at them to stop being so callous. Scream at them to get out of her way.
She spotted Ren and Ryuji running after a student with blue hair. Could he know something about what happened to Shiho?
Before she ran after them, she saw the principal running into the middle of the crowd.
"Everyone, please return to your classroom! None of you have been dismissed yet!" the principal commanded.
She ran after Ren and Ryuji, finding that they had cornered the boy over by some lockers.
"You know something, don't you?" Ren asked.
"L-Leave me alone…" Mishima stammered.
Ryuji slammed his fist into the locker in rage. "She jumped and tried to kill herself!"
The boy looked around frantically, his eyes landing on her.
"N-Niijima-sempai!" Mishima stammered. "C-Can you-"
"Mishima-kun… please." she pleaded. "I promise that we won't let anyone know that you told us."
"Yeah, we aren't trying to get you busted." Ryuji told him. "We just can't sit by while shit like this is happening!"
"Suzui… she… she was called by Kamoshida!" Mishima cried.
"So… all of those bruises…" Ren trailed off.
"Kamoshida would always call one of us to his office when we disappointed him… and he'd hit us." Mishima admitted.
"Damn it… that effin' bastard!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"I'm not sure why he called her… she didn't do anything wrong…" Mishima muttered.
Ren turned to her. "You think this has to do with Takamaki-san?"
"That might be it…" she whispered.
"Everyone already knows about the abuse." Mishima sighed. "Our parents, the staff… everyone knows, but they don't care."
Could that really be true? Could the staff really be aware of this happening?
"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji yelled. "I'll-"
"Ryuji, calm down!"
They all turned to her.
"Why are you tellin' me to keep calm?!" Ryuji argued. "Aren't you angry at him?!"
Her fists were clenched, her eyes were shut, and her body was shaking.
"I'm furious…" she muttered. "A part of me wants to march down to Kamoshida's office and confront him myself. But that wouldn't solve anything."
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Ryuji snapped.
"The need to get enough evidence against Kamoshida, but we can't let him know that we're onto him." Ren told Ryuji.
Ryuji frowned, but didn't argue. "Guess it'd only be a repeat of last year if I went after him now."
"...Makoto, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ren asked.
She nodded, seeing as they were on the same page.
Ren walked up to her, whispering into her ear. "I'll look for Morgana so we can go back there. Meet you at the gate after school."
He walked off, leaving her with a suspicious Ryuji.
"What are you two up to?" Ryuji asked.
"We… might have a way to stop Kamoshida, but…"
"What, you're not gonna tell me?" Ryuji grumbled.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to put you in danger." she told him. "If you find anything else, please tell us."
The three students went their separate ways, none of them noticing that sometime had been listening in on their entire conversation.
"So… that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Kamoshida scowled. "Guess I'll have to deal with those four…"
"Niijima-san?"
She glanced up from some papers that a teacher had asked her to look through, seeing another council member.
"Yes?"
"A student wanted to speak with you." the council member informed her.
"Of course. They can speak with me." she answered.
A nervous-looking student entered the room, glancing from side to side.
"Oh! Tachibana-san! Please, take a seat." Makoto insisted.
Takayo sat down across from her, still looking very nervous.
"Is something the matter?" she asked, worry in her tone.
"It's just… I was talking to a lot of the other students, and…" Takayo trailed off.
"Is this about… what happened this morning?" she asked.
"...Yeah." Takayo confirmed. "I can't… we can't… we're all pretty shaken up by what happened. We were hoping that maybe we could end classes early today."
She gave a gentle smile. "I'll talk with the principal, alright?"
"T-Thank you!" Takayo smiled back. "I r-really appreciate it!"
"I'm happy to help." she assured her.
As soon as she exited the student council room, however, her smile dropped.
Mishima said that the staff knew about Kamoshida. If that were true, then that must mean that the principal could be aware of it.
Still… if there was even a slight chance that he didn't know, she needed to inform him.
As she approached his office, she overheard him muttering to himself.
"To think that a star player would be such a burden…" the principal sighed. "She didn't even have the decency to do this at her own home…"
She covered her mouth to stop herself from gasping. Was he talking about Shiho? How could he say that about someone who had just attempted suicide?!
"Is someone there?" the principal asked.
"I-It's me, sir." she announced. "I need to speak to you."
"Ah, Niijima-san! I'm quite busy, so please, make this quick." the principal said.
She stepped into his office, nervously shuffling as she glanced at the ground.
When she glanced up at the principal, she saw that he was looking rather nervous himself, sweat pouring from his head.
"I wanted to talk to you… about what happened this morning."
The principal frowned. "Ah, of course. Terrible tragedy really. And right before the volleyball team was about to play a big match."
That was what he was worried about?!
"Sir, a lot of students aren't able to concentrate after what happened." she explained. "They're pretty shaken up, so maybe we could… end classes early?"
Kobayakawa shook his head. "Our school holds a high reputation, and we have high standards of our students. We can't afford to end classes over every inconvenience."
"This is hardly just an inconvenience!" she thought angrily.
Her nervousness left her, replaced by rage that she tried her hardest to keep reigned in.
"Perhaps… you could say something to ease the students fears?" Makoto asked.
Thankfully, the principal seemed to consider it, thinking a few moments before nodding.
"I will look into it." the principal promised.
"And Sir… there have been rumors flying around that Kamoshida was involved with… what happened to Suzui-san."
The principal fidgeted in his seat. "N-Niijima-san, that is quite the serious accusation! I can't just act on rumors, you know!"
"But surely you could investigate, can't you?" she asked.
"While what happened is tragic, it can't be helped." the principal sighed. "There is simply nothing I can do."
"But couldn't you-"
"Kamoshida's done wonders for this school's image over the years." the principal pointed out, before giving her a wide smile. "I would suggest that, as student council president, you work towards easing the fears of your classmates, so that this doesn't happen again."
It seemed that infiltrating the castle was their only option.
Then so be it.
She held back her rage, giving a fake smile to match his own.
"Of course, sir." she said. "I just thought of a great idea to ease the student's fears. I'm sure that you'll appreciate it."
"Excellent!" the principal exclaimed. "Now, was that all?"
"Yes sir." she nodded, leaving the room.
There was no doubt in her mind now. They had to go back to the castle.
"Where the heck did he go?" Ren muttered.
He had spent the past fifteen minutes looking for Morgana, to no avail.
Just when he was about to give up, he spotted Mishima heading towards the gym.
He followed him, making as little noise as possible as he went into the gym.
He quickly found a place to hide, his eyes narrowing when he saw Mishima meeting with Kamoshida.
"Y-You c-called for me, sir?" Mishima stammered.
"I need you to do something for me." Kamoshida said. "And I won't take no for an answer."
"W-What did you need?" Mishima asked.
"The staff will be meeting on the 3rd of May." Kamoshida explained. "And I'm going to tell them that Sakamoto and Amamiya are responsible for Suzui's suicide attempt… and you're going to back me up."
"What?!" Mishima exclaimed. "Why would I-"
"Because if you don't, I'll tell them about how you leaked Amamiya's criminal record, and get you expelled!" Kamoshida shouted.
"But you forced me to do-"
*BAM*
Kamoshida punched Mishima in the face, knocking him to the ground and leaving a nasty bruise.
"Don't talk back to me!" Kamoshida snarled.
"W-W-What about-"
"Poor, poor, Suzui." Kamoshida said, his tone more mocking than sorrowful. "The hospital just called, and they said Suzui's in a coma, with little chance of ever waking up."
"N-No…" Mishima whispered.
"That's why you need to do what I say!" Kamoshida commanded.
Ren scowled from behind his hiding place. A part of him wanted to go over there and hit Kamoshida back for everything he'd done, but the rational part of his brain told him that that was an awful idea.
He carefully backtracked out of the gym.
"There you are!"
He whipped around, letting out a breath he was holding in as soon as he saw it was Morgana.
"Where were you?" Ren asked. "I was looking for you earlier."
"I was busy trying not to get captured by the staff!" Morgana yelled.
"Oh yeah. It would be pretty bad if you were catnapped." Ren acknowledged.
"I'll leave." Morgana threatened.
"Sorry, sorry." Ren apologized. "But let's go find Makoto. We've… made up our minds."
He found it hard to concentrate on his remaining classes, and it wasn't just because he had a cat wriggling in his backpack.
As soon as his last class ended, he rushed as fast as he could to the school gate, where Makoto was waiting for him.
"Did you…?" she trailed off.
"Right here." he answered, unzipping his backpack, letting Morgana out.
"So, have you made up your mind like he said?" Morgana asked.
"We need to stop Kamoshida, no matter what." Makoto said, eyes shining with determination.
"We'll have to be fast." Ren pointed out. "Kamoshida's planning to expel me and Ryuji."
"What?!" she exclaimed.
"He said on the 3rd of May, he's going to tell the staff that me and Ryuji are responsible for Suzui-san's attempted suicide." Ren explained. "And he blackmailed Mishima into helping him."
"That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "Did Kamoshida find out about our investigation?"
"He might have." Ren replied. "And if he did… then be careful, ok? Kamoshida probably has something planned for you too."
She nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Well, that's all the more reason to head back to the castle!" Morgana claimed. "Are you two ready?"
They both nodded, and she entered in the information to send the three of them back to the Metaverse…
...none of them noticing that they were being followed.
As once again winded up right in front of the castle.
"Ok, so all we have to do is-"
"WHERE THE EFF AM I?!"
Shocked by the sudden outburst, they turned to see Ryuji, his mouth agape and his eyes as wide as saucers.
"Ren?! Miss Prez?!" Ryuji yelled. "Where the hell are we?! Why are you dressed like that?! What's that weird cat thing?"
"I'm not a-"
"Sakamoto-kun, how did you get here?" Makoto asked, interrupting Morgana.
"I was just following you guys, wonderin' what you were up to." Ryuji explained. "I saw you lookin' at your phone, and now we're here."
"I guess the Metaverse app has a bit of range to it." Ren figured.
"Why weren't you two paying attention?!" Morgana frowned.
"I don't know how he managed to follow us without us noticing." she excused.
"Maybe he hid behind a book." Ren teased.
"Do you want to get smacked?!"
"Easy, easy!" Ren said, raising his hands in front of him. "Just a joke."
She gave a sigh, turning to Morgana. "I guess we ought to tell him."
They began to explain the Metaverse to Ryuji, and what they were doing here.
"Ughhhh… this is all going way over my head." Ryuji groaned.
"Think of it like we're in Kamoshida's head." Ren suggested. "This is what he thinks of everything. The 'king of a castle', remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Ryuji recalled, perking up.
"Not very bright, is he?" Morgana whispered to her.
"Shh!"
"Anyway, from now on, the two of you are officially Phantom Thieves." Morgana grinned. "We'll sneak in and stylishly steal the treasure."
"Heh… Sounds kinda cool." Ren grinned.
"First, we'll need codenames as a precaution." Morgana informed them.
"Well, maybe we can call you Whiskers." Ren chuckled.
"Can you stop being such a joker?!" Morgana snapped.
"Joker… I kinda like that." Ren said. "Hey, maybe that could be my codename."
"Well, it's certainly fitting." Makoto said, shaking her head. "As for you, Morgana… why don't we keep it simple. Why not Mona?"
Morgana nodded. "Works for me. What about you?"
"What about Shoulder Pads?" Ryuji suggested.
"No." she denied.
"Maybe… Rider?" Morgana suggested.
"Not that either." she shook her head.
"Hmm… well, you're very fierce in battle, but you also give off an elegant vibe…" Morgana trailed off.
"...Queen." Ren muttered.
"Queen?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow.
The others turned towards Ren, Ryuji letting out a snicker.
"I-It's just… Morgana was just talking about elegance, and we're at a castle, so it's the first thing I thought off." Ren murmured, turning away in embarrassment.
For someone who cracked so many jokes, he sure got embarrassed easily.
"It's not a bad name." she assured him. "I actually really like it. Queen it is."
"So, what's my awesome codename?" Ryuji asked expectantly.
"Um… maybe it would be for the best if you stayed here." Morgana pointed out. "It's too dangerous for someone without a Persona."
"WHAT?!" Ryuji yelled. "You think I'm just going to stand here when you finally found a way to take down Kamoshida?!"
"It's too dangerous." she told him. "We don't want you getting hurt."
"Just wait here, ok?" Ren asked. "When we're finished, we'll come back and get you out of here."
"Tch… whatever." Ryuji sulked.
Satisfied that he wouldn't follow them, they entered the castle once more.
"All Out Attack!"
They all struck at the downed foes at once, Joker doing several flips before striking a pose.
He looked at Mona and her expectantly. "What, not even a 'looking cool, Joker'?"
"Pfft… showoff." Mona scoffed.
"Well… it was a little cool." she admitted. "But please, don't be so reckless, ok?"
"Heads up you two, there are more on the way." Mona warned. "Let's sneak up on them and rip off their mask!"
She nodded, carefully maneuvering behind the knight.
"Show me your true form!" she shouted, slamming the knight's face into the ground before ripping off their mask.
The knight revealed itself to be a flying fairy, which they quickly managed to knock to the ground.
"Wait, please, don't kill me!" the fairy begged. "I'll do anything!"
"Why should I let you live?!" Makoto shouted in rage. "Look at how awful the man you serve is!"
She was beside herself with rage.
"W-Wait!" the fairy begged. "M-Maybe I could help you?"
"Shadows can help us?" she wondered.
Mona raised an eyebrow. "Careful. It's probably a trap."
"N-N-No!" the fairy stammered. "It's not a trap! I can help! Just the other day, my cousin was telling me about how she helped a boy with these weird tattoos that she met in a hospital and-"
"Get to the point!" she snapped.
"It's just that I could join you and-"
The fairy suddenly gasped.
"I-I remember now!" the fairy shouted. "I'm Pixie! I come from the sea of humanity's souls. I am thou, thou art I… I shall become your new mask!"
Much to her surprise, the Pixie was absorbed into her mask, causing her to feel a rush of power.
"What just happened?" she muttered in confusion.
"I have no idea!" Mona exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like that!"
"That Pixie said that she'd help us, right?" Joker said. "Maybe you can summon her now?"
She figured she'd give it a try. "Pixie! Zio!"
Sure enough, the Pixie from before appeared, summoning a lightning bolt to strike the ground.
"That's incredible!" Mona praised. "I've never seen anyone able to handle more than one Persona!"
"And that's… good, right?" she asked.
"Oh course!" Mona answered. "Hehehe… you really are something special. But..."
"What is it, Mona?" she asked.
"How are you feeling?" Mona asked. "You seem… on edge."
"I'm angry. At Kamoshida. At the school. At myself for not noticing sooner."
Well, this place can be a good outlet for anger…" Mona admitted. "Let your anger out on the shadows if you have to, but try to keep a cool head, ok? That goes for you too, Joker."
"Joker?"
He had a neutral expression on his face, but the clenched fists at his sides told her that he was furious too.
It was only natural, after what happened to poor Shiho...
She took a moment to compose herself. "You're right, Mona."
They continued along the castle hallways, hoping to reach the treasure.
"DAMN IT! I'M SICK OF WAITING!"
Ryuji shouted to the sky in anger.
"I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for them." Ryuji muttered.
Ryuji climbed through the vent, ending up inside of the castle.
"So where did those two go…?" he wondered.
"Halt! Stay right where you are!"
Ryuji whipped around, seeing two knights pointing swords at him.
"W-What the hell?!" Ryuji stammered.
"Sakamoto, why aren't you in your cage!" the knight roared.
"Cage?! What the eff are you talking about?!" Ryuji yelled. "And where are-"
*SLAM*
The knight slammed his shield into Ryuji, knocking him to the ground.
"Let's bring him to King Kamoshida!" the knight suggested.
The other knight nodded. "He'll want to personally punish Sakamoto himself."
They each grabbed an arm, dragging Ryuji away to Kamoshida.
The three Persona users had arrived at another safe room, allowing them to heal their wounds.
"I'm still surprised that those shadows actually drop money." Queen brought up.
"Yeah, let's try not to crash the Japanese economy when we get out of here." Joker chuckled.
"Yes, that… would be bad." Queen agreed, before turning to Mona. "So, how are we going about stealing Kamoshida's treasure?"
"First, we need to secure an infiltration route." Mona explained. "We'll need to find where his treasure is first!"
"Maybe some sort of treasury?" Queen guessed.
"Probably very far from the entrance." Joker added.
"No point in speculating. We have to keep exploring!" Mona encouraged.
As they exited the safe room, they overheard two of the knights engaged in conversation.
"I didn't think that Sakamoto would be the intruder. I thought it would be those kids from before." the first knight said.
"Doesn't matter. Let's just take him back to Kamoshida." the other knight replied.
"That idiot!" Mona hissed. "We told him to stay put!"
"We have to save him!" she exclaimed.
"Let's go!" Joker agreed.
They followed the source of the voice, eventually leading them to a long hallway.
"AAAHHHHH!"
A loud scream sounded from the end of the hall.
"That sounded like Ryuji!" Joker yelled.
"We need to hurry!" Queen responded.
They rushed down the hallway, bursting through the door at the end.
Inside, a maliciously grinning Kamoshida stood over Ryuji, who was clutching his stomach on the ground.
"I don't know how you got here, but I won't pass up a chance like this." Kamoshida grinned.
He slammed his foot into Ryuji's stomach, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Stop it!" she screamed, running into the room with Joker.
"You two again…" Kamoshida scowled.
His guards immediately moved in front of Kamoshida.
"Stay where you are!" Kamoshida commanded. "Move and Sakamoto dies!"
"What the hell is this bullshit?!" Ryuji yelled.
"This is my castle, and I'm the king!" Kamoshida boasted.
"You're not my king, bastard!" Ryuji shouted.
Kamoshida delivered another kick to Ryuji's stomach, causing him to groan in pain.
"I told you to stop!" Queen cried.
"This fool dared to talk back to me!" Kamoshida roared. "He should be punished!"
"Like, I think the punishment for talking back should totally be death."
They all turned, gasping at the newcomer.
"Ann?!" Ryuji exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
Ann Takamaki stood next to Kamoshida, a ditzy look on her face, and wearing nothing but a bikini and a cat ear hairband.
"Takamaki-san?!" Makoto gasped.
"Ryuji, you should like, totally follow King Kamoshida's orders! Just like me, and Shiho, and the rest of the sports teams!"
"You're totally right, Ann."
Once again, another newcomer walked right next to Kamoshida.
"Suzui-san too..." Joker muttered.
Suzui wore a bunny bikini and large bunny ears, a seductive look on her face.
"If everyone would listen to King Kamoshida, things would go better for all of us." Suzui claimed. "That's what all the sports teams think, including your teammates."
"Exactly! You three should be more like Takamaki and Suzui." Kamoshida grinned, throwing an arm around both girls. "…and the rest of the volleyball team."
He gestured to the side, where all the other members of the volleyball team sat there, topless and moaning in ecstasy.
"M-Mona, are these…?" Queen trailed off.
"Don't worry, these are just cognitions!" Mona assured her.
"Don't listen to them, Ryuji!" Joker called. "They're not real!"
"So what?" Kamoshida scoffed. "They're telling the truth, aren't they? If Takamaki would have just slept with me at my place, everything would have been fine. But she didn't, so Suzui had to take her place. That must be why she jumped."
"W-W-What…?" Queen stammered. "You… You forced Suzui-san to…"
Before, she could only speculate as to what he had done. But now…
"You sick, aberrant bastard!" she screamed. "You're no king! You're an irredeemable predator!"
"Out of our way." Ren said coldly to the knights, the sheer rage in his expression causing them to take a step back.
"And that's not all!" Kamoshida continued. "If you had just accepted my training like your teammates, I wouldn't have had to dissolve the track team."
"It wasn't training!" Ryuji argued. "It was abuse!"
"That isn't how they see it!" Kamoshida grinned. "They, their parents, and the school all call it training. They accept their place below me, and don't do anything to stop me! But you… you're just pathetic trash that doesn't even realize it!"
"Damn it… it's all your fault… my busted leg… the track team…" Ryuji muttered.
"No one should be able to succeed but me!" Kamoshida grinned. "Only me and my team. Now then… before I kill you, why don't I bust up your other leg too…"
"Ryuji, don't let him get to you!" Joker yelled.
She couldn't bear to watch him get beat anymore. "Sakamoto-kun! Please, get up! You wanted to fight on behalf of your teammates, right?! For Ann and Shiho?! So fight!"
"You're right…" Ryuji muttered.
Kamoshida had one of the girls fetch an iron club, which he held over Ryuji's leg, a maniacal grin on his face.
Ryuji grit his teeth, rolling out of the way at the last second, pushing past the pain to force himself to his feet.
"You took everything from me…" Ryuji glared. "Me, and everyone else… you treat everyone like your slaves… the only trash here is you!"
He clenched his fist, fueled by pure willpower.
"So stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!" Ryuji cried, his eyes glowing yellow.
Ryuji punched Kamoshida in the mouth, causing him to fall to the ground and drop the club.
"You made me wait quite a while."
Ryuji clutched at his head, falling back to his knees.
One of the knights began to panic, not sure whether to help their king or to continue blocking them.
"Mona! Joker! Now!" she commanded.
They capitalized on the knight's hesitation, making quick work of it, and running past the second.
"You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact."
Ryuji started to cry out in pain as they rushed to his side.
"Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc? The "other you" who exists within desires it thus…"
"Him too…" Mona whispered.
"I am thou… thou art I… there is no turning back! The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!
A skull mask appeared on Ryuji's face, which he wasted no time in trying to grab.
"How many of you freaks are there?!" Kamoshida cried out in fear, running out of the room with the girls.
Ryuji ripped off the mask, causing a familiar blue pillar to surround him. When it disappeared, Ryuji's appearance had changed as well. He now wore a black jacket and pants, with pads on his elbows and knees, yellow gloves, and a red ascot.
Behind him stood a skeleton pirate riding atop a ship.
"Wassup, Persona!" Ryuji ginned. "This effin' rocks!"
Mona quickly healed Ryuji's wounds, before all four of them turned to the remaining knight.
"For King Kamoshida!" the knight cried before reforming into a horned demon sitting on a floating toilet.
"What the heck is that?!" Mona said in disgust.
"Who cares. The sooner we kill it, the sooner we get to Kamoshida." Ren said, glaring at the demon.
Ryuji grabbed the discarded club. "All right! Let's go… Captain Kidd!"
She quickly charged the demon, dodging a blast of ice to punch it in the face.
Joker unloaded all of his ammo into the shadow, while Ryuji had Captain Kidd lunge at the enemy.
"Ugh… this thing is resilient." Mona groaned, healing Ryuji.
"Then let's try magic!" Queen suggested.
Joker and Mona nodded, firing an Eiha and Garu spell respectively.
The demon grimaced but took minimal damage.
It fired another ice spell, hitting Ryuji in the chest.
"Sakamoto-kun!" she called out.
"Heh… this is nothin'!" Ryuji grinned. "Let's go, Captain!"
Ryuji fired a bolt of lightning, striking the demon. The lightning spread through its body, leaving it unable to move.
"It's shocked!" Mona exclaimed. "Quickly Queen, hit it with nuclear magic!"
She did just that, firing a Frei spell that did immense damage. The demon groaned in pain, falling to the ground.
"It's down! Let's get him now!" Queen commanded.
Fueled by their rage at Kamoshida's actions, they went all out against the downed foe. Ryuji delivered the final blow, lunging into the foe, shattering his toilet and causing him to dissolve into ooze.
"Hell yeah, we got him!" Ryuji cheered.
As soon as he said that, he collapsed to his knees, exhaustion overtaking him.
"Damn it…" Ryuji grunted.
"He must be exhausted after awakening his persona." Mona figured. "Let's retreat for now!"
They helped Ryuji to his feet, helping him out of the castle and back to the real world.
Makoto Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 1
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 1