Chapter 5: Multiple Persona

Ryuji and I burst through the faculty office and saw Kamoshida hunched over his desk, writing stuff down.

It's as if nothing happened... That scumbag!

"...Huh?", Kamoshida noticed that we were there, along with Mishima-Kun and Akira who just arrived.

"You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?", Ryuji questioned.

"What are you talking about?", Kamoshida asked while waving his hands for us in a "Shoo" motion.

"You know what we're talking about!", I yelled and kicked a nearby chair down out of frustration.

"That is enough!", Kamoshida scolded.

As if that's going to change my mind...

"What you did... Wasn't coaching...!", Mishima-Kun seethed.

"What did you say?", Kamoshida asked with rage.

"You... You ordered me to call Suzui here... I can only imagine what you did to her...!", Mishima-Kun said as he clutched his head just thinking about it.

"You're going on and on about things you have no proof of... Basically, you're simply making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?", Kamoshida taunted Mishima-Kun.

"That's not what this is about...!", Mishima-Kun retorted.

"Even if it is exactly as you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking... What can you do? We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim... How would someone like that make a statement? There's no chance of her getting better, I hear... The poor girl.", Kamoshida tsked.

No... Shiho...!

"No... That can't be...", Mishima-Kun mumbled.

"You goddamn...!", Ryuji seethed, clenching his fists and shaking violently.

"This, again...? Does this mean we need to have yet another case of "Self-defense"?", Kamoshida mocked.

"You shut your mouth, you son of a b*tch!", Ryuji was about to throw a punch at Kamoshida, but Akira grabbed his arm just in time.

"Why're you stoppin' me...!?", Ryuji yelled.

"Don't let him get to you. The scumbag's not worth it anyway...", I assured as I kept my hand wrapped around Ryuji's other arm just in case.

"But still!", Ryuji retorted as he shook free from both of us.

"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise. There's no need to hold back. Why not attack me?... Ohhh, you can't. Hahaha, but of course you can't! Everyone present right now... Will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting.", Kamoshida declared.

"Wha--", Ryuji was at a loss for words.

"You can't make a decision like that...!", Mishima-Kun explained.

"Who would seriously consider what scum like you say? You threatened me too, Mishima AND Koga, so you're just as responsible.", Kamoshida grunted.

"Huh...?", Mishima-Kun looked back at me.

"Long story...", I replied while tugging at my hair hard.

"Koga... I thought that maybe, just maybe, you would become one of my top students. That WAS until you threatened me. Mishima... To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You act like you're a victim, but you leaked Kurusu's criminal records AND Koga's foster records, didn't you? It's all over the internet, correct? How terrible.", Kamoshida revealed. I pulled out my phone and checked online. Sure enough, my foster records were on display on a student website. I was... So confused. I felt like my voice had left my body.

"Mishima...?", Ryuji and Akira turned to the boy while I stood there with my hair covering my eyes and stared at nothing.

"He told me to do it. I had no choice...", Mishima-Kun fell to his knees.

"Now, are we finished here? You're all expelled! You're done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight.", Kamoshida mocked. I felt something in my mind just... Snap.

"Oh really...? Is that it? Steal our futures? Well, I wouldn't put it past you... You did to Shiho, after all... Let's make it a race, shall we?", I smirked.

"What are you yapping about?", Kamoshida grunted, not looking back at me. I grabbed the chair he was sitting in and turned it to face me. I was grinning like a sadist.

"Tell you what. Let's play a game, shall we? The rules are simple; the First one to rob the other of their future is the winner! Now isn't that just wonderful?! Deadline is at the next board meeting!", I laughed.

"Rika! Snap out of it!", Akira pulled me away from Kamoshida.

"I assure you, I am fine.", I smiled at Akira and turned away.

"Let the games begin! Your secrets are mine...", I giggled and left the room. I pulled out my phone and texted Ryuji and Akira.

-------------------------------------------

You: We are beating his a*s at the castle.

You: I don't care if he dies at this point.

You: Meet me at the courtyard, now.

You: Try to see if Morgana is around to come, too.

You: Don't waste my time.

----------------------------------------------

I leaned on the vending machine and waited for them to arrive.

I will avenge Shiho, the volleyball team, and Ann too!

Soon, Morgana, Akira, and Ryuji made it. Ryuji punched one of the vending machines in anger.

"We can't waste any time. We gotta hurry up and go to that world and beat the shit outta that asshole!", Ryuji declared.

"... We're not beating him up. We're simply stealing his distorted desires. Can I assume that you've made up your minds about this-- about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?", Morgana asked.

"... I have. Someone almost died because of him! I don't give a rat's a*s what happens to him anymore!", Ryuji seethed

"And you two?", Morgana asked us.

"It WAS my idea anyway, so I'm in.", I nodded.

"I agree.", Akira replied.

"... Then it's settled.", Morgana declared.

"By the way, is gettin' rid of a Palace hard...? You've tried it before, right?", Ryuji asked.

"...When did I ever say that?", Morgana deadpanned.

"...Eh? WHAT!? Were you just pretendin' to know!?", Ryuji shouted.

"Figured the cat didn't know... What a waste of time.", I mumbled.

"Is it true that you're getting expelled?", a voice came. We turned to see Ann standing there with a downcast look. I wanted to ask about Shiho's condition, but I knew it would hit hard in Ann's heart, so I stayed quiet.

"Ann...", I greeted.

"Everyone's talking about it...", Ann mumbled.

"That a*shole's at it again...! So you came all this way to tell us that?", Ryuji grumbled.

"If you're going to deal with Kamoshida... Let me in on it too. I can't just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho!", Ann explained. We were all considerably shocked, but with what happened, I don't blame her.

"This has nothing to do with you... Don't butt your head into this...", Ryuji advice.

"But it does! Shiho's my--"

"I said don't get in our way!", Ryuji yelled.

"Ryuji, shut it!", I growled.

"But--"

"Don't make me repeat myself! That is not a way to treat a woman, is it?!", I scolded.

"...", Ann kept quiet and ran off.

"... That was harsh.", Morgana mumbled.

"We can't take her somewhere like that...", Ryuji retorted.

"You could have said in a more CALM tone, you know...", I growled.

"I hope that she doesn't torment herself over this. When it comes down to it, women don't hesitate", Morgana sighed.

"We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kamoshida. Let's go already!", Ryuji rushed.

"Come on. We should go outside, back to the alleyway in front of the school.", I guided everyone outside. Ryuji, Akira, and Morgana stood in the middle of the alleyway.

"The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you're ready.", Morgana declared.

"Huh? Phantom thieves?", Ryuji questioned.

"Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure-- that is what we become!", Morgana explained with an excited look.

"Not bad.", Akira smirked.

"I like it...", I mumbled while covering my face slightly. A pet peeve of mine is when I admit that I like something. I feel... Weak admitting it. I don't like lying about my interests, but it is a bit cringy to me.

"That sounds kinda cool! So we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida's name, and... Castle? Then we end up in bizarro world... How the hell's all this work? Someone make it?", Ryuji asked as he pulled out his phone.

I WANT to say that a bizarre man with a long nose made it, but I already sound crazy enough as it is...

"It doesn't matter.", Akira and I said at the same time. We both looked at each other with raised eyebrows before shrugging and acting as nothing happened.

"That's kinda creepy, but eh, it seems useful enough. We'll show that effin' Kamoshida!", Ryuji cheered.

"Let's go!", Morgana pumped us up as we used the Metaverse Navigator to go to the Castle. After being slightly disoriented, we were at the front of the castle with our Phantom Thief outfits on.

"All right! Time to bust on through!", Ryuji declared.

"What is this!?", a voice cried behind us. We turned and were surprised to see Ann, standing in front of the castle with fear and shock in her eyes.

"Ann! What are you doing here?!", I asked, not really liking the situation.

"That voice... Rika!? And... Are you two Sakamoto and Kurusu-Kun!?", Ann looked at all of our outfits with pure confusion.

"Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?", Ryuji stuttered.

"How should I know!? What's going on? Hey, where are we...!? Isn't this the school!?", Ann rapidly fired questions.

"I see. Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app thing. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it'll pull anyone nearby.", Morgana guessed.

"Makes sense, though we were idiots for not thinking this through...", I sighed.

"Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?", Ann asked.

"Anyways, you gotta leave!", Ryuji insisted.

"No!", Ann yelled.

"The shadows are going to find us if you make a scene.", Morgana explained.

"No way! It talked!? Oh my God, it's a monster cat...!", Ann screamed.

"Monster...?", Morgana looked heartbroken.

Cat still dreams of love, huh...?

"You better explain what's going on! I won't leave until you do!", Ann declared.

"Looks like we gotta force her. But... How're we supposed to do that?", Ryuji asked.

"Leave it to me. Akira, hand me your phone.", I requested. Akira reluctantly gave me his phone, not really sure what I was about to do. I went up to Ann and sighed.

"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. I hope you will forgive me in the future."

"Wha-- Eeek!", I cut Ann off since I picked her up bridal style. I was used to carrying weights and stuff back at the orphanage, so to me, Ann was light.

"P-P-Put me down!", Ann stuttered with a face as red as a tomato.

"Nope.", I said with a straight face and used the Metaverse Navigator to take Ann back to the alleyway. I plopped her at the far back of the alley and quickly went back to the Metaverse. I walked up to the boys as I dusted my hands off.

"She's safe."

"We better be careful from now on when we use that app...", Ryuji sighed.

"You should've checked the tools you used! Why do I-- the one who was just watching-- know more about it than you three!?", Morgana sassed.

"Sh-Shuddup! Geez, Takamaki found out right when we were startin' off... We gotta deal with this fast!", Ryuji declared.

"That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right? Lady Ann...", Morgana mumbled.

"Lady Ann...?", I questioned Morgana's use of words.

"N-Nothing! I didn't say anything! Anyways, the shadows have noticed us. You better brace yourselves, got it? We're counting on you, Joker!", Morgana said to Akira.

"Joker? That a nickname?", Ryuji asked.

"Don't refer to it in such a lame way. It's a code name. What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!? I'm not down for that! And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace... It's just a precaution.", Morgana explained.

"So, why's he Joker?", Ryuji asked.

"Because he's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength.", Morgana replied.

"It suits you.", I smiled at my brother. He blushed slightly at my comment.

"T-Thanks, Rika."

"It's settled then! Next up is you, Ryuji. You'll be... Let's see..."Thug.", Morgana declared with a smile.

"Are you pickin' a fight with me!?", Ryuji yelled.

"Skull.", I said.

"What?", Ryuji questioned.

"You can be "Skull". You know, because of your mask.", I explained.

"Ooh! That sounds awesome! I'm Skull! What do we do about this one's code name?", Ryuji asked about Morgana.

"What do you think?", Akira asked us.

"... How 'bout "Mona"?", Ryuji suggested.

"Well, if Joker thinks it's easier to call me that, then I'll go with it. What about you?", Morgana asked me.

"I already know what I want.", I said with a nod while pulling my hair lightly.

"What did you choose?", Akira asked.

"Assassin. My Persona is the legendary Ezio from The Brotherhood. I also got the double sword thing, so I chose that.", I explained.

"It honestly is kinda accurate to what people say about you, with the dark organization thing.", Ryuji sighed.

"*sigh* You heard? Please don't bring it up in front of me.", I grumbled.

"Well, it's settled. From here on out, we're Joker, Skull, Assassin, and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using these code names from on!", Morgana declared. We nodded and left for the palace.We entered the Palace through the window. As we were about to go through one of the doors, we heard voices.

(Guards--Kamoshida)

"Praise be to king Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!"

"Wh-What the hell!? Hey, look! Ain't that...", Skull trailed off. We hid behind the double doors and saw the castle guards at the foot of the grand stairway, looking up to the king.

"Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I can't allow that trash to ransack my castle! Strengthen the security! Kill them on sight! I'll reward whoever brings me their heads.", Kamoshida ordered.

"Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!", the guards cheered.

"Hey, Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him and call it a day?", Skull asked.

"That's the dumbest idea I have heard come out of your mouth, Skull.", I deadpanned.

"S-Shuddup!", Skull whisper-yelled.

"Look at all those soldiers, idiot! It'd be suicide. And I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last time. Besides, don't you want him to confess his sins? There's no point beating him up. We need to steal his materialized desires... The Treasure.", Mona explained.

"Fiiiine. So. where is it?", Skull sighed.

"It has to be somewhere in the depths of this castle. Let's infiltrate further in while he's out here!", Mona confirmed.We went to open one of the doors, but a guard was standing there, facing the entrance.

"Dammit, there's a guard over here too... Whaddya wanna do? Should we kick its a*s?", Skull suggested.

"Hold on... Hmmm... This might be a good opportunity to teach you something... All right, Everyone! Are you ready to take it down?", Mona informed.

"Let's go.", Joker nodded. We all nodded back in confirmation.

We charged at the guard and released the shadows that were in it; fairy-like creatures. We all took positions as Mona began to explain what he wanted to teach us.

"Remember how I taught you Hold Ups and All-out Attacks? I'll teach you their practical use now. There's another use for Hold Ups besides simply defeating enemies. Shadows are beings born from people's hearts, so naturally, they can talk too. In other words, you can communicate with them. Get it? If you talk to them when they're cornered, they might offer money or items since they don't want to die. In fact, talking has a better chance of scoring something great, as opposed to just offing them. Well then, let's do the first step: Knock all the enemies down, and do a Hold Up!"

(A/N: If you don't know what a hold up is, it's just cornering the enemy by hitting their weakness and holding them at gunpoint.)

Akira pulled out his gun and shot both of the fairies in the chest, knocking them down. I didn't have a gun, so I just pulled out my swords and stood in the position of a samurai.

Too bad I don't have a gun... What a waste of space I can become because of stupid fears...

The fairies began to speak, just like Mona told us.

(Shadow fairies)

"Seriously!? You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about...?"

"It can't get worse than this... What're you going to do with us!?"

"Cash.", I replied with a glare.

"Huh? So you'll let us live if we give you something?"

"Well, something along those lines... Now let it be money or items. Just cough it up!", Mona demanded.

"I prefer cash.", I add.

"But, this happened so suddenly... We actually don't have anything on us... W-We usually do though, you know!?", the fairies pleaded.

"W-Wait, what? Oh... This isn't how I was planning this to go. Uh... Anyway, it can't be helped if that's the case. Time for you to go to hell.", Mona replied nonchalantly.

"W-Wait!", the fairies cried.

"Sorry, but we're in a hurry.", Morgana smirked.

"No, wait up!"

"Can't we work something out? Don't kill us, please! Won't you let us go?", the fairies begged.

"You chose the wrong enemies.", I glared. The fairies suddenly looked... Happy?

"Wow... You two're really confident. "

"But we're the same way. In any other situation, we'd get along really well."

"Whoa, We feel different! Something's happening!", the fairies flew in the air floated before us with happy expressions.

What the hell...?

"What the...!? What's going on!?", Mona was just as confused as the rest of us.

"... Oh yeah, we remember now! We don't belong just to King Kamoshida..."

"We're existences that drift about in the sea of humanity's souls..."

"Our real names... Call us "Pixie"!"

"We're Pixie! From now on, we'll live on inside your hearts!".

The "Pixie"'s turned blue and slowly turned into masks; one looked like Joker's mask and one looked like mine. The masks floated towards us and fused into our masks. It felt so odd yet fresh and powerful.

"What was that just now...? What happened...!?", Mona questioned. I put away my swords and lightly touched the area where the Pixie fused.

"Wh-What the hell was that about? The enemy got sucked into Joker and Assassin's masks!", Skull questioned.

"Yeah, what was that? I mean, it didn't happen to you guys. Only me and Joker.", I mumbled as I traced my mask with my finger.

"I-I have no idea! I wasn't expecting that either...", Mona stuttered. Out of nowhere, another guard came into the room.

(Guard)

"Intruders!? Halt!"

"Crap, they noticed us!", Ryuji exclaimed. We all got into position in front of the now transformed shadows; two twin-horned devil horses.

At least, that's what I see...

I tried to search for Ezio, but he was there with what I also felt Pixie inside of me, fluttering around like nobodies business. I focused on power and called her out.

"Pixie!", I saw Pixie emerge from the mask and float around, waiting for my command. Joker called his Pixie over too. I saw that the only potential that Pixie had was an electric attack "Zio" and a healing ability "Dia". I decided to use Zio on the horses and it was actually weak to the attack. I baton passed t Akira and he did the same thing.

"A-Are those the shadows from earlier!? Don't tell me... Did you take in shadows' appearance and powers as a Persona!?", Mona questioned. We cornered the shadows and put them in a hold up.

Maybe... I can hold more of the shadows as Persona...

"Lend us your power.", I demanded.

(Shadow)

"So that's yer move?... Then I guess I'll talk first. I'll decide if I'm gonna help you after.", the shadows declared. After getting the shadows on our side, they were also absorbed into our masks with the new name "Bicorn".

"Holy... Does that mean you two can wield multiple Personas?", Mona exclaimed.

"H-Hey, Mona! What was that about!? What did Joker and Assassin do?", Skull questioned.

"They sealed the enemy's appearance and powers into their masks and made them their new Personas... I've never seen anyone do that before... Didn't even know it was possible!", Mona spoke his concerns.

"Is this good?", Joker questions.

"If used correctly, there is a huge advantage for us.", I voiced my thoughts.

"Of course it is! Only one heart exists per person, so normally a person can only have one Persona! But this... This is incredible! That ability will give us a huge advantage in battle! All right, try to do that even more if the opportunity arises! You better help out too, Skull!", Mona cheered.

"Hell yeah! We'll hold every last one of 'em up!", Skull promised.

"Hehe, I like you two even more now! I really do have some special ones on my hands!", Mona laughed with glitter in his eyes.

"Alright, alright, we get it. We're SPECIAL. Now let's go already! You guys are wasting my time!", I groaned as I walked out of the room, hearing the rest of the gang follow me around.

--Sometime later. gaining Persona and stuff -_- --

After gathering a bunch of Persona and running around a bit, we found another safe room.

"Oooh, it's another hazy-lookin' door! This is that thing! Uhhh, what was it called...?", Skull asked.

"A safe room. We can discuss our strategy inside. There are a lot of places even I don't know about here...", Mona explained as we went into the safe room. I leaned against the closed doors and sighed as we all began to talk.

"Aren't there even more shadows here than before? Just gettin' this far's been a real pain in my a*s!", Skull groaned.

"You think we feel any better? Joker and I have to suck up a bunch of Personas into our bodies like a vacuum. It really is tiring...", I mumbled, resting my head on the door to try to catch my breath.

"There, there...", Joker sighed as he pets my head lightly. I was too tired to tell him to stop, so I let him do what he wanted. My brother always said that my hair was fun to play with, so it was the only part of my body that I let him get close to; My hair. Even though he has the same hair consistency as me, he still plays with my hair to this day. I didn't know this, but Joker was smiling sweetly at my submission.

"It's all because you guys provoked Kamoshida, you know. Still... He seems to be awfully on guard...", Mona mumbled.

"Anyways, how're we supposed to steal that Treasure thing?", Skull asked.

"Don't be so hasty. First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route.", Mona declared.

"An... *yawn* infiltration route...?", I asked, getting sleepy because of how Joker was playing with my hair. He chuckled at my reaction. I blushed slightly and swatted his hand away to stand straighter. Joker sweat dropped but shrugged it off.

"A path to the treasure's location. But honestly, I think we'll need a little more manpower in order to accomplish this. At the very least, one more person would be nice...", Mona sighed.

"Hey, you say you don't have your memories and all, but somehow you still know about that kinda stuff? Do you think this thing's really got amnesia?", Skull whispered. I walked over to Mona and grabbed him by the tail and flipped him upside down.

"Yo kitty, got anything you want to share?", I asked as I dangled Mona from his tail.

"Gaah! I have nothing to say!", Morgana yelled as I giggled at his little predicament.

To be continued :) (because the program lagged and now it stops at a dumb cliffhanger ;-;)