— –Ann Takamaki– —
This had been a crazy week for her. No, actually, maybe "crazy" wasn't the right word. "Nightmarish" felt a little more accurate.
After all, she was currently standing in the middle of a medieval castle, clutching a heavy replica rifle that somehow fired actual bullets, preparing to fight against knights that exploded into shadow monsters. And to top it all off, she was inside the mind of the man she'd been forced to "date." A man she absolutely despised for what he did not only to her best friend, but to every other girl on that volleyball team.
Yeah, "crazy" didn't even begin to cover it.
Really, as she stood in the dim hallway with Ryuji next to her, a guy she used to be friends with back in middle school before everything went to hell, she couldn't help but question her life decisions just slightly.
Because, let's be honest, how the hell had she ended up here?
She should be out there living a normal life. She should be doing some modeling gigs, building up her portfolio, or maybe just grabbing a crepe in Harajuku. But instead, she was here, risking her life in a place that looked like a reject set from a horror movie.
She really was too good a friend, wasn't she? Shiho owed her big time for this. Like, a lifetime supply of sweets kind of debt.
Then… there was that Amamiya guy.
He looked friendly enough, with those glasses and that messy hair. Shiho seemed to trust him implicitly, which counted for a lot. But the more Ann watched him, the more she felt like he knew a bit more than he let on.
From what she'd seen, he was polite to a fault. He was nice to every single person they interacted with, the perfect picture of a well-mannered transfer student. He was also surprisingly competent, managing their infiltration of this death-trap like he'd done it before.
But if he was that smart… then why the hell had he taunted Kamoshida that much?
It was weird. She thought back to that first morning, when he'd hopped into Kamoshida's car with her. He hadn't just been awkward; he'd been actively pushing Kamoshida's buttons. At first, she thought it was accidental, just a guy with no filter. But the more she got to know him, the more calculated it seemed. It was like he wanted the attention.
Hell, the fact that he'd gone and gotten himself beat up was firing some more red flags in her mind. But she seemed to be the only one that noticed it. And now, he had just walked off with Shiho, leaving her and Ryuji behind with a plan he refused to explain.
God, she really was feeling a headache coming on.
Kamoshida was a pig, and she hated the look on his smug face more than anything in the world, but this was all getting to be a little too much to process.
"Aaaaaaah!" She heard Shiho's shout in the distance.
Ann's blood ran cold instantly. Her body moved before her brain could catch up, raising her rifle as she spun toward the sound. She was ready to sprint, ready to bash someone's head in, but she froze.
Down the hall, she saw Shiho being dragged out from the shadows by a massive, armored knight. He had her in a vice grip, one arm clamped around her waist as she kicked and thrashed uselessly against his plating.
Ann leveled the gun, her finger tightening on the trigger. She just needed a clear shot. Just one. But the knight shifted, pulling Shiho in front of him like a human shield. If she fired now, the bullet would tear right through her best friend.
"Damn it!" Ann cursed, her hands shaking as she hesitated.
"Ann! Run!" Shiho shouted, her voice desperate as she struggled against the knight's grasp. "There's a bunch of knights coming! Ren is holding them back, but he won't be able to stall them for long! Don't worry about me, Ren will get me out of here, just run!"
As if.
She couldn't leave her behind. She didn't do it in the real world, and she wasn't going to do it here. She'd run up to that damn knight and bash his helmet in with the butt of her rifle if she had to.
But just as she tensed her legs to charge, she heard Shiho scream again, looking directly at her with pleading eyes.
"Trust me! Please! Just run!"
The sheer desperation in Shiho's voice stopped Ann in her tracks. It was a plea, not just to save herself, but to trust that there was a way out. Ann had to bite her lip so hard she tasted copper to hold back a scream of frustration.
She let out a guttural, annoyed grunt, spinning on her heel.
"Let's go!" She yelled at Ryuji.
He hesitated, looking torn between fighting and fleeing, but seeing the look on Ann's face, he cursed under his breath and took off running by her side.
They sprinted down the hallway, boots slamming against the stone floor, but the castle seemed to anticipate their movements. They turned a corner and skidded to a halt.
They found themselves surrounded. Five heavy knights stepped out from the shadows, their armor clanking ominously. Standing between them was a captain, a knight wearing ornate, polished golden armor and a red cape.
"Stop right there!" The Golden Knight shouted, his voice booming. The other five knights quickly fanned out, cutting off any escape route.
The captain stepped forward, his helmet tilting as he inspected them.
"Wait… Princess Ann?" The knight's voice dripped with a sickening mix of reverence and possessiveness. "Why are you here? And why are you with… ugh. You." He gestured to Ryuji with disgust. "I recognize you. The loudmouthed peasant."
The Golden Knight marched forward, slamming his metal boot on the ground to assert dominance.
"The King was right! The Princess is nothing but a traitor, consorting with the rabble." The Golden Knight shouted, pointing his sword at them. "Knights! Capture the brat and throw him in the deepest cell. I'll take the traitorous Princess directly to our King. He will want to pass judgment personally."
Everything was spiraling out of control. Ann's chest heaved as she backed up against Ryuji, looking for an opening, but there was none.
It was then that the situation went from bad to nightmare.
From the hallway they had just fled, heavy footsteps approached. Ann watched in horror as the knight that had captured Shiho walked into the light. He was carrying her best friend effortlessly over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Shiho was limp. Unconscious.
"Shiho…" Ann muttered weakly, the rifle lowering in her hands as the strength drained from her arms.
The Golden Knight saw the new arrival and laughed, a cruel, metallic sound. He reached out, grabbing Ann roughly by the arm and forcing her hands behind her back.
"Ah! Excellent work!" The Golden Knight exclaimed, his voice rising with excitement. "Not only the Princess, but the King's favorite bunny as well!"
He looked from the unconscious Shiho to the struggling Ann, practically vibrating with glee.
"Our King will be pleased with us tonight! After the storm that struck our castle, he has been in a foul mood, searching for a way to calm his mind. These two will make a mighty good present to help him… relax."
For a moment, Ann felt the world around her starting to collapse. Goddamn it, she knew it. She knew this was wrong, she knew it was risky. She knew that she couldn't blindly trust the Amamiya kid, and she knew that coming here was a bad idea.
But Shiho seemed so confident. She seemed so angry. If Ann didn't come with her, then who was going to look out for her?
What the hell was going to happen to her? To Shiho? This was Kamoshida's mind wasn't it? And the way the knight had spoken it sounded like Kamoshida was going to…
"Argh!" Ann shouted, falling to her knees even as the knight still violently held her arms behind her back.
She felt a massive headache split her skull, like someone was driving a rusted nail directly into her brain. The world spun. Her vision blurred, pulsing red at the edges.
"What is this? Stop making a scene, Princess!" The Golden Knight scoffed, yanking her arms up higher to force her to stand, but Ann was dead weight. "You were always so dramatic. Just be a good girl and accept your role. It will be easier for you, and for your little friend there."
A good girl.
The words echoed in her mind, mixing with the throbbing pain.
That's what she had been, wasn't it? A good girl. She had smiled when she wanted to scream. She had kept her mouth shut when she saw the bruises. She had pretended everything was fine to protect Shiho, to protect herself.
And look where it got them.
Shiho was unconscious, slung over a monster's shoulder like a trophy. And she was about to be dragged to a "King" who viewed them as nothing more than toys to be used and discarded.
'Is this really how you want it to end?'
The voice didn't come from the knight. It came from inside her own head. It was a woman's voice, smooth, commanding, and dripping with disdain.
'You spent so long running away. Turning a blind eye. Telling yourself that if you just played nice, if you just smiled, the bad things would go away.'
Ann gasped, trying to clutch her head as the pain intensified. The knight laughed above her, thinking she was sobbing in fear.
'Look at her.' The voice commanded.
Against her will, Ann's eyes snapped open. She looked at Shiho's limp form.
'What a pitiful act, really. But alas, it had to be done.' The voice mused to herself before speaking to Ann once more. 'She fought. She stood up. But you are still trembling. Are you going to let him take her again? Are you going to let him break her, just because you are too scared to act?'
"No…" Ann whispered, her breath hitching.
"What was that?" The Golden Knight asked, leaning down with a sneer. "Begging for mercy already? You should have known this would come when you abandoned our King in his time of need."
'He treats you like a doll. A pretty little thing to be possessed. To be used. Are you just a doll, Ann Takamaki? Or do you have a will of your own?'
The anger that had been simmering in her gut for months, no, for years, suddenly boiled over. Her entire life she'd been looked at as if she were just a pretty doll, like her opinions never mattered. Like all she was good for was her looks. And while she was proud of her appearance, of who she was, she was tired of it.
It wasn't fear anymore. It was pure, unadulterated fury. It burned through her veins, hotter than the headache, hotter than the shame.
"I said…" Ann grit her teeth, her nails digging into her palms so hard they drew blood.
She stopped struggling against the knight's grip. Instead, she planted her feet.
'Good. Then stop trembling. If you want the power to save her… if you want the power to crush these men who think they own you… then take it!'
'I am thou, thou art I…'
The voice roared now, drowning out the laughter of the knights, drowning out Ryuji's shouts, drowning out everything.
'You have finally found the resolve to stop lying to yourself! Now, show them! Show them the fury of the woman they tried to trample!'
"NO!" Ann screamed.
With a surge of strength she didn't know she possessed, she ripped her arms free from the Golden Knight's grasp, stumbling forward. The Knight stumbled back, shocked by the sudden outburst.
Ann panted heavily, her head hanging low. But still, a smile crept onto her face.
— –Ryuji Sakamoto– —
Shit.
It was over, wasn't it?
To be honest, out of all the ways to go out, this wasn't the worst one. Or well, maybe it would be. He didn't want to think about what they were planning to do to him down in those damp jail cells. But hell, at least he could say he went down swinging. At least he tried to take a piece of Kamoshida with him.
The bastard deserved everything that was coming to him…
But damn. As he watched Ann fall to the ground, struggling against the knight's grip, and saw Shiho limp and unconscious over that monster's shoulder, a fire ignited in his gut. It wasn't fear. It was pure, unadulterated annoyance.
No. Screw that. He wasn't going down like this.
"Eat this, you tin cans!" Ryuji roared.
He racked the slide of his shotgun and fired point-blank at the face of the nearest knight.
BOOM!
The shot blew the helmet clean off, sending the armor crashing to the ground as it began to convulse. The recoil bruised his shoulder, but the satisfaction was worth it. He racked the slide again and fired at the next one.
He wanted to take down as many as he could. If he could just clear a path, maybe the girls could run. Maybe he could be useful for once.
But his defiance was cut short. A third knight blind-sided him, tackling him with the force of a truck. Ryuji hit the stone floor hard, the air leaving his lungs in a wheeze as the shotgun skittered out of reach.
He struggled, thrashing and kicking, but the knight was heavier than he was. The metal gauntlet pinned him down, and then, with cruel precision, the knight stomped down on his right leg.
The bad leg.
"GAAAH!"
Ryuji let out a strangled cry as white-hot pain shot up his thigh. It was the same pain he'd felt months ago. The snap of the bone. The end of his track career. The smirk on Kamoshida's face as he ruined Ryuji's life.
Yeah. That did it.
The pain didn't make him submit. It made him see red.
Rearing his head back, Ryuji screamed and slammed his forehead directly into the knight's helmet. His world spun violently. His vision blurred. But the impact was strong enough to shatter the mask on the knight's face. The heavy armor went limp, falling off him as it began to convulse like the others.
Ryuji scrambled to his feet, swaying unsteadily. He felt warm blood trickling down from his forehead into his eye, stinging like hell, but he was sick and tired of it. He was sick of being the victim. Sick of being the cripple. Sick of waiting for permission to fight back.
"Is that all you got?!" Ryuji shouted, wiping the blood from his eye and spitting on the ground. He glared at the remaining knights, his fists clenched. "Come on! Who wants some next?!"
The pain in his leg was throbbing, screaming at him to stay down, but he ignored it.
'Yahar! Is that all ye got, boy?'
The voice slammed into his mind like a cannonball. It was rough, loud, and sounded like it had been gargling gravel and saltwater.
Ryuji froze, looking around frantically.
"Who's there?!"
'Look at ye! Beaten, bloody, hobblin' on a bad leg like a peg-legged dog. Are ye just gonna lay there and let 'em kick sand in yer face? Or are ye ready to bite back?'
Ryuji clutched his head as a migraine assaulted him, bringing him to his knees again.
"Shut up… I ain't done yet!"
'That's the spirit! Ye've been branded a troublemaker, a thug, a failure! They cast ye out of yer own ship! Fine then! If they want a villain, give 'em the devil himself!'
The voice laughed, a boisterous, manic sound that made Ryuji's blood boil in the best way possible.
'Stop waitin' for permission to wreck havoc! You don't need a track to run, and ye don't need a king to tell ye who ye are!'
'I am thou, thou art I…'
'Raise the flag! Let's plunder this castle and sink it to the depths! Are ye ready to riot?!'
"Hell yeah I am!" Ryuji screamed, a savage grin tearing across his face.
He didn't care about the pain anymore. He didn't care about the rules.
A mask materialized on his face, a jagged, iron skull mask that felt cold and heavy. He grabbed it with both hands, his fingers digging into the metal.
"I've been waiting for this!"
With a roar that shook the hallway, he ripped the mask off.
Blood sprayed, and blue fire erupted around him, wild and chaotic. The floor beneath him cracked as a massive shape rose from behind him. A giant skeleton mounted on a ghost ship, wielding a cannon in one hand and a harpoon in the other.
"Captain Kidd!" Ryuji announced, the name feeling like it had always been his.
— –Ren Amamiya– —
Things had all spiraled downhill for a moment. When they'd first looked out of the wall, there had only been three knights. And by the time they'd chased the two of them, there had been six total. One of them being the golden knight that appeared to be far stronger than the other two.
For a moment, he'd been ready to push the panic button to give themselves a chance to retreat, but now he was glad he didn't. For one, Takamaki was now grabbing onto a cat-like mask, and for another, Sakamoto had just ripped his own off, summoning a spectral pirate.
"I've had enough of you…" Takamaki growled.
She reached up, her fingers clawing at the edges of the mask. Blood leaked from where her nails dug into her own skin, but she didn't seem to care. She pulled.
With a sickening, wet tear, she ripped the mask from her face.
Blue flames erupted from her body in a massive pillar of fire, blasting the Golden Knight backward and forcing the other soldiers to shield their eyes. In the center of the inferno, a silhouette rose behind her. A massive, towering woman in a red flamenco dress, with men chained at her feet, dragging them along as she moved.
"Come! Carmen!" Takamaki shouted.
That was their sign to act.
Quickly bringing Suzui down from his shoulder, he saw the girl quickly move to action as she called forth Circe, using that same strange skill she'd used before to hypnotize one of the knights that Ryuji had shot down. Knights that had burst out to reveal, ironically enough, another knight, but this time one riding a blood-red horse.
It was then that the other four knights exploded, revealing the same horse riding knights as the first. But before they could act, the knight that Suzui had charmed charged at another, neutralizing both of them for the time being.
"Get 'em, Captain!" Sakamoto roared.
At his command, the spectral pirate surged forward, bashing its massive ship-body into one of the red horses. Arcs of yellow lightning crackled from the impact, electrocuting the mounted knight and sending it crashing to the stone floor.
Finally, Takamaki flung her hand out, and Carmen mimicked the motion, sending waves of searing fire crashing into the remaining knights. It looked a bit reckless, but Ren could tell that she was intentionally steering clear of any knights near their team to avoid accidentally hitting them with "friendly fire."
That only left the Golden Knight.
The captain was isolated now, momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Bursting into blue flames once more, Ren dropped his heavy armor disguise. The metal plates dissolved into ash, revealing his trench coat and domino mask beneath. He felt lighter, faster. He charged through the chaotic battlefield, drawing his dagger into his hand as he rushed directly at the leader.
But before he could reach him to rip off the mask, the Golden Knight recovered.
"Enough!"
The Golden Knight slammed his armored foot down. A shockwave of wind blasted outward, knocking Ren back a few steps. The golden armor began to tremble violently, glowing with a blinding light.
The golden armor transformed into a silver crusader's armor as two crimson wings sprouted from the back of the knight. In his hand, the angel-like knight lifted a sword aiming it directly at him.
"Arsene!" Ren called out instinctively.
He felt the shadow underneath his feet stretch and slide across the ground, defying the light of the angel. With a maniacal laugh, the Impostor burst from the floor next to the floating angel, his black wings unfurling to challenge the crimson ones.
The angel didn't waste a second on pleasantries. With a flap of its crimson wings, it launched itself forward, its sword glowing with a blinding white light as it slashed horizontally, aiming to cleave Ren in two.
Thankfully, Ren reacted in time to duck under the strike. Feeling a chill up his spine as he saw the winged knight fly past him.
Without needing to call out to him again, Tartuffe moved to retaliate. Tartuffe swept his massive black wings forward, summoning a wave of black and red energy that crashed into the angel's chest.
"Eiha!"
The cursed fire struck home. The angel shrieked as the dark energy ate away at its pristine armor. It staggered back, clutching its chest, the holy light of its sword flickering for a moment.
Ren didn't give it a chance to recover. Drawing his pistol, he fired two shots directly at the knight's crimson wings.
Sparks flew, but the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the divine armor. If anything, it only stole the knight's attention away from his Persona. The Angel locked its glowing eyes on Ren, ignoring the corrosive cursed fire on its chest, and charged at him once more.
The creature was terrifyingly fast. In a heartbeat, it was on top of him.
Tartuffe intercepted. The Impostor lunged, grabbing the Angel's sword arm with a grip that creaked metal, and raked his claws down the Angel's back. But the flying knight carried too much momentum. Even as it was grabbed, it lashed out with a kick.
Ren rolled on the ground for a moment before forcing himself to his feet, as he raised the pistol again, ready to fire, but Tartuffe appeared to have gotten the upper hand. Really, rather than a refined actor, his shadow fought in a far more animalistic manner. He saw as Tartuffe maneuvered itself in the air, causing both him and the flying knight to crash into the ground before raising his clawed hands and slashing at the knight's face over and over again.
It was quite gruesome, really. But through the bond connecting them, Ren felt a surge of emotion that explained the brutality. It wasn't just simple rage. It was… envy?
Tartuffe didn't just want to kill the angel. He wanted to rip off the winged knight's face and wear it for himself. Actually, as Ren watched the frantic clawing, he realized Tartuffe had done the exact same thing with the pumpkin-headed mages.
Finally, the winged knight went limp as Tartuffe brought his face closer to the mangled mess he'd left of the knight causing the knight to burst into blue flames that were quickly absorbed by Tartuffe's own face.
He saw his persona quickly turn to look at the horse riding knights, ready to pounce on the next one. But to its disappointment, Suzui, Sakamoto, and Takamaki had already dealt with them, and just now they were wrapping up the battle on their side.
Then, sinking back into the ground as a shadow, Tartuffe slid across the ground until it was underneath Ren's feet once more, causing Ren's mask to appear back on his face in a burst of blue flames.
"Ren!" He heard Suzui shout as she ran to his side, with Circe still next to her as she used a different skill this time.
For a moment, Ren was bathed in a green, warm soothing light. Similar to the skill the twins had used to heal him in the Velvet Room. It was then that he felt the pain in his stomach and even some of the leftover bruises on his face began to fade. It wasn't until now that he realized just how hard the knight had kicked him. He'd been running on too much adrenaline to notice the pain.
"Dude, that was effin awesome!" Sakamoto shouted in excitement as the battle finished, running up to his side. "This whole persona thing effin' rocks! I was shooting lighting and you—"
"You made us think we were going to die!" Takamaki shouted, interrupting the blonde boy. "Shiho was limp… you have no idea just how scared I was about what would happen to us!"
Suzui quickly ran to her side, giving her friend a hug to try to calm her down.
Ren opened his mouth to answer. In a way, he'd asked them before if they were ready for something like this and they'd both agreed. Sure, he hadn't told them what was going to happen, but he had warned them that it wasn't going to be pleasant.
But he knew better. She had a right to be angry, since she hadn't really known what he was planning. It was also not ideal to start an argument in the middle of the castle. Finally, to be fair, things had once again spiraled a bit out of his hands. Really, there was only one thing he could say at the moment.
"I'm sorry."
Takamaki's frustration and anger quickly melted away at the apology. She opened her mouth a few more times to speak, but in the end she simply closed it back up. Instead, she looked down at her body.
"And what's with this outfit?" She finally spoke up. "I look ridiculous."
Finally getting a chance to admire the change, Ren's eyes widened slightly as he admired her for a few seconds. Her outfit had turned into a skin-tight red latex catsuit with a cleavage cutout and zippers, a matching red panther mask, pink gloves, dark red thigh-high boots, and a clip-on tail on the back of her catsuit.
It was a bit too…. Provocative was the best word he could think of.
"That's uh… one of the things we don't fully understand yet." Ren answered, averting his eyes before he found himself staring a bit too much.
Sakamoto's outfit had also changed into a black jacket with elbow pads and what appears to be a metal vertebral column attached to its back, pants with knee pads and a double-sided holster belt with ammo on each side, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves with metal knuckle protectors and a skull mask.
"I mean…. Daaaaamn." Sakamoto couldn't contain his own reaction as he looked at Takamaki. A wrong choice, given the death glare that she shot his direction.
However, before another argument could break out, the two of them stumbled slightly. They'd probably just been hit with the wave of exhaustion from awakening their personas. A wave of exhaustion that he and Suzui were all too familiar with.
"We should probably head back for now." Suzui spoke up, getting a round of nods from the group. "It's been a long day, and we all need to recover."
Standing up straighter now, and feeling the spot where he'd been kicked, Ren gave the group a nod before starting to lead the way back outside.
Thankfully, the route to the exit had been clear. Probably due to the state the castle was still in.