You wake up on the ground of the Sumaru prison. Kozy's shaking Eikichi.
"Eikichi-ku—" Kozy stops herself suddenly. "I mean, Boss-san! Are you okay!?"
Eikichi shakes himself roughly, sitting up. You and Lisa wake yourselves up properly too, rising back to your feet. You shake your head roughly. What... was that?
"That..." Eikichi's the first to speak. "...wasn't a dream, was it?"
"I knew it..!" Lisa cries out. "I saw it, too. It called those things Personas." The three of you glance at each other, and you nod— Yeah, you saw it too.
"Even the part about rumours coming true, and the stuff about the future...?" Eikichi asks hesitantly. "That's too much for it to be a coincidence."
Lisa glances away. "Hey, I know... You wanna try the Joker Game?" Everyone turns to stare at Lisa.
"The thing where you call your own cell and it shows up?" Eikichi asks skeptically. "Why would I want to try that?" He crosses his arms over his chest for emphasis, but Lisa is determined.
"To test if that was just a dream or something more," she says quietly. "If the rumour really comes true, then it was all real..."
"I'll pass," Eikichi says brusquely. "There's no way all that could be possible..."
"That's why I'll prove it," Lisa says. "Hey... are you scared or something...?"
Eikichi throws his hands up in disgust. "If you say so..." He still doesn't believe it, you can see it plainly, but... "It does feel like we should be doing something after a dream like that. Let's see if this is for real."
Lisa, Ken, Shogo, and Takeshi all form a circle in the center of the room. Ken sighs deeply.
"Why are we the ones who have to do this...?" Ken asks, but you somehow doubt he expects an answer. Ken, Shogo, Takeshi, and Lisa all join hands.
"Well then, here goes," Lisa says, looking a great deal more confident than you feel. "Joker, Joker, please come here..."
The quartet turn away from each other, taking several steps away before they pull out their cell phones and dial. Lisa gasps after a moment.
"No way..."
It's ringing.
Ken, Shogo, and Takeshi all seem to react in unison. "It just..."
"Um..." Lisa says hesitantly. "Hello...?"
A dark energy crackles in the room, right in the space where the group had begun this game. A clown appears— four clowns? One for each person on a cell phone?
"Behind you..." the clown says, velvet undertones in his voice that makes your chest ache suddenly. The four teens on their phones whirl around in surprise.
"I am Joker..." he continues. "The final trump card drawn by those anguished over their dreams..." Each one of the four clown apparitions points at a teen. "Tell me your ideal..."
Joker... a masked figure rumoured to grant one's dreams. Why he does this, and who he is, is a complete mystery.
Ken takes a large step back. Everyone seems too stunned to say anything.
"No!" Kozy cries out. "You have to hurry and tell it your ideals! The rumour says that those who don't get turned into shadowmen!"
But it's too late.
"Your trump cards have been spoiled..." Joker says calmly. Each of the four "Jokers" holds up a crystal skull. "The bet on the table was your inner, dreaming heart.... In accordance with the ritual, I will now claim the pot."
Light arcs from three of the crystal skulls— towards Shogo, Takeshi, and Ken. Lisa sinks to the ground in horror even as the three boys scream out in agony. The life, the vitality... even the colour seems to drain out of them. Joker turns to face you and Eikichi... For his part, Eikichi's looking at his friends in horror.
"K-Ken! Shogo! Takeshi! You bastard... What did you do!?"
"Ideals only cause pain to the powerless," Joker responds, seemingly unbothered by what had just happened. "I have freed them from that anguish... Better not to yearn for impossible dreams. They are lifeless shells of dreams... They can be seen, but are not. They will be forgotten and become true shadows."
Joker points at you "But enough chitchat. I have other business with you..."
A blue light emanates from Joker all at once. You fall to your knees all at once. From the corner of your eye, you can see Eikichi shaking. It's all you can do to keep from doing the same. This feeling....
"I can't move...!" Lisa cries out. "Is it the fear...!?"
Joker laughs. "It's been ages, ████...I've been waiting... for the moment you would all summon me!"
What?
"As a parting gift, I'll show you something interesting..." Joker continues. "Not Personas, but true demons!" And just like that, two bird-like demons appear in front of you— one on either side of Joker.
"Wh-what are those things...!?" Lisa cries out. One of them attacks you all at once, and you wince in pain. The other goes for Lisa.
You rise to your feet, gritting your teeth in determination. Fear, pain.... It doesn't matter, you won't let it end like this! You summon Vulcanus, feeling him emerge from the back of your mind into form right in front of you, and the two of you call forth an agi spell once again, this time towards one of the demons. The demon screams and fades away.
Lisa stands up. She still looks shaken, but there's determination of her own now. "Fanna...! There's no way I'm letting those things kill me!" She summons Eros and casts some magic of her own— an earth spell, Magna. The other demon fades away, leaving only Joker.
Eikichi stands up now. "You guys!" he calls out. "Work with me here! If we all attack together, we just might pull this off!"
The three of you charge towards Joker, summoning your Personas to hit him with spells all at once— fire from you, water from Eikichi, earth from Lisa. You see Joker's Persona emerge from him, but the clown doesn't even seem phased.
"A Fusion spell..." he says, amused. "A laudable idea, but it's much too weak. You'll never best me with such a paltry offense. Eikichi Mihsina... Lisa Silverman... And you, the Thief... It's time you died! You cannot escape the wheel of fortune!" And then Joker lashes out with his Persona, an attack none of you can withstand.
Joker picks you up, using Eikichi as a foot stool so he can gain the height to lift you enough to choke you, your feet dangling ever-so-slightly.
"Those eyes..." Joker hisses at you. "You haven't changed. What kind of dreams did you build on the corpses of other people's ideals?"
"......?" You stare at him, anger and confusion surging through you. What is he talking about?
"The poker face doesn't fool me," Joker sneers. "I know. You wanted to go to college... Isn't that so?"
Yes. But how did he know that?
"Hahaha... Aaaaahahahaha!" Joker's laughter is wild, maniacal. "I'll never let your dreams come true! You should know by now... why I came to you all today!"
"What the hell are you talking about..." Eikichi groans from under Joker's foot.
Lisa manages to pull herself up to her knees. "Wh-what...? What did we ever do to you?"
Joker's head jerks towards Lisa and he finally drops you. You manage to land on your feet, but you're breathing hard.
"No..." Joker sounds almost lost. "Do you not remember!?" He takes a step back. "Impossible! This can't be... How could this happen!?"
This time it's Joker falling to his knees, clutching at his head. "What meaning is there in killing you if you do not remember!?"
Joker takes a deep, steadying breath before he pulls himself back up to his feet. "You escaped your fate this time..." He points at you. "But you will get no rest. My demons will be your assassins." He pulls out a flower. "Let this Iris be my testament... Now go, and remember the sins you have committed! Then I will claim my revenge!"
Joker flings the iris at your feet and vanishes into a crackle of dark energy. You pick up the iris and look at it for a long moment before you tuck it into your school jacket.
Eikichi turns to walk towards the shadowmen... his friends. "I'm sorry, Ken..." he says, the pain written on his every feature. "If I hadn't made you play the game.."
"Um..." Kozy's voice comes hesitantly. "Who is Eikichi-ku— I mean, Boss-san talking to?"
A cold chill runs down your spine.
"They've really been forgotten..." Lisa murmurs. It's an upsetting thought. You walk over to her. "I can't believe Joker is real... But why does he want revenge on us?"
Kozy pulls you aside quickly. "Umm... About my real name... Could you keep it a secret from Boss-san? Please..." Huh? You don't get it, but you agree to her request.
You try to talk to Ken, but it's painful to hear him talk. "My... dream...? I don't care anymore... It's not like it'll..."
"I wanted... to be a doctor..." The words seem like they're being dragged out of Takeshi. "But that'll never happen... I don't want to think anymore..."
"I have to... take over the family business..." Shogo mumbles. "But... why...?"
Eikichi looks at his friends in pain. "Ken.. You were going to be a boxing champ, right...? I was gonna cut a cool theme song for you..." He raises a hand to his face, trying to stop the sniffles. "I'm sorry... And after I promised...! If only I hadn't made you do that... Dammit!"
You've had enough— You've got to take care of Joker. But as you're leaving, Eikichi calls out.
"Wait a sec, ████... You're going after that guy, right? You should stay out of this. I'll deal with him."
Like hell you will?
Lisa runs over to you. "Whoa there, both of you! Your'e up against a real monster here! If we don't stick together, you'll die! Plus, we don't know where to start looking. Let's get someone else to do something about him— like the police!"
There's a kneejerk no reaction in your gut, but you don't even need to speak up— Eikichi's already got you covered.
"Who'd believe us!? We gotta arm up and kill that guy, or we're all screwed."
He's not wrong. You flick your lighter open and shut, trying to figure out where to even start with this. It's Kozy to the rescue though, as she runs over at an impressive speed. "If that's the case, maybe I can help..." she says. "I'll go see what I can find out about Joker. While I do that, you should prepare to defende yourselves..."
You glance at Eikichi and Lisa. It's a start.
"That reminds me..." Kozy continues. "Rumour has it the ramen shop in Kameya Alley sells weapons... Something about the owner being a former spy... With everything that's going on, why not start there?"
Bless Kozy and her skill for finding scoops.
"If rumours are coming true, it's worth a shot..." Lisa says. "Having just our Personas makes me nervous, so to the ramen shop it is!"
"She's got a point..." Eikichi says, though it sounds a touch reluctant. "We don't stand a chance against him yet. We've both been called out on a grudge we know nothing about. Let's call a truce until that guy's out of the picture." You nod— it's fine by you for now.
"We'll be safer if we stick together," Lisa says to you earnestly. "C'mon, ████. Let's chase him down together, okay?"
And so you leave Sumaru prison with Eikichi and Lisa at your side.
[ continued ]
"Eikichi-ku—" Kozy stops herself suddenly. "I mean, Boss-san! Are you okay!?"
Eikichi shakes himself roughly, sitting up. You and Lisa wake yourselves up properly too, rising back to your feet. You shake your head roughly. What... was that?
"That..." Eikichi's the first to speak. "...wasn't a dream, was it?"
"I knew it..!" Lisa cries out. "I saw it, too. It called those things Personas." The three of you glance at each other, and you nod— Yeah, you saw it too.
"Even the part about rumours coming true, and the stuff about the future...?" Eikichi asks hesitantly. "That's too much for it to be a coincidence."
Lisa glances away. "Hey, I know... You wanna try the Joker Game?" Everyone turns to stare at Lisa.
"The thing where you call your own cell and it shows up?" Eikichi asks skeptically. "Why would I want to try that?" He crosses his arms over his chest for emphasis, but Lisa is determined.
"To test if that was just a dream or something more," she says quietly. "If the rumour really comes true, then it was all real..."
"I'll pass," Eikichi says brusquely. "There's no way all that could be possible..."
"That's why I'll prove it," Lisa says. "Hey... are you scared or something...?"
Eikichi throws his hands up in disgust. "If you say so..." He still doesn't believe it, you can see it plainly, but... "It does feel like we should be doing something after a dream like that. Let's see if this is for real."
Lisa, Ken, Shogo, and Takeshi all form a circle in the center of the room. Ken sighs deeply.
"Why are we the ones who have to do this...?" Ken asks, but you somehow doubt he expects an answer. Ken, Shogo, Takeshi, and Lisa all join hands.
"Well then, here goes," Lisa says, looking a great deal more confident than you feel. "Joker, Joker, please come here..."
The quartet turn away from each other, taking several steps away before they pull out their cell phones and dial. Lisa gasps after a moment.
"No way..."
It's ringing.
Ken, Shogo, and Takeshi all seem to react in unison. "It just..."
"Um..." Lisa says hesitantly. "Hello...?"
A dark energy crackles in the room, right in the space where the group had begun this game. A clown appears— four clowns? One for each person on a cell phone?
"Behind you..." the clown says, velvet undertones in his voice that makes your chest ache suddenly. The four teens on their phones whirl around in surprise.
"I am Joker..." he continues. "The final trump card drawn by those anguished over their dreams..." Each one of the four clown apparitions points at a teen. "Tell me your ideal..."
Joker... a masked figure rumoured to grant one's dreams. Why he does this, and who he is, is a complete mystery.
Ken takes a large step back. Everyone seems too stunned to say anything.
"No!" Kozy cries out. "You have to hurry and tell it your ideals! The rumour says that those who don't get turned into shadowmen!"
But it's too late.
"Your trump cards have been spoiled..." Joker says calmly. Each of the four "Jokers" holds up a crystal skull. "The bet on the table was your inner, dreaming heart.... In accordance with the ritual, I will now claim the pot."
Light arcs from three of the crystal skulls— towards Shogo, Takeshi, and Ken. Lisa sinks to the ground in horror even as the three boys scream out in agony. The life, the vitality... even the colour seems to drain out of them. Joker turns to face you and Eikichi... For his part, Eikichi's looking at his friends in horror.
"K-Ken! Shogo! Takeshi! You bastard... What did you do!?"
"Ideals only cause pain to the powerless," Joker responds, seemingly unbothered by what had just happened. "I have freed them from that anguish... Better not to yearn for impossible dreams. They are lifeless shells of dreams... They can be seen, but are not. They will be forgotten and become true shadows."
Joker points at you "But enough chitchat. I have other business with you..."
A blue light emanates from Joker all at once. You fall to your knees all at once. From the corner of your eye, you can see Eikichi shaking. It's all you can do to keep from doing the same. This feeling....
"I can't move...!" Lisa cries out. "Is it the fear...!?"
Joker laughs. "It's been ages, ████...I've been waiting... for the moment you would all summon me!"
What?
"As a parting gift, I'll show you something interesting..." Joker continues. "Not Personas, but true demons!" And just like that, two bird-like demons appear in front of you— one on either side of Joker.
"Wh-what are those things...!?" Lisa cries out. One of them attacks you all at once, and you wince in pain. The other goes for Lisa.
You rise to your feet, gritting your teeth in determination. Fear, pain.... It doesn't matter, you won't let it end like this! You summon Vulcanus, feeling him emerge from the back of your mind into form right in front of you, and the two of you call forth an agi spell once again, this time towards one of the demons. The demon screams and fades away.
Lisa stands up. She still looks shaken, but there's determination of her own now. "Fanna...! There's no way I'm letting those things kill me!" She summons Eros and casts some magic of her own— an earth spell, Magna. The other demon fades away, leaving only Joker.
Eikichi stands up now. "You guys!" he calls out. "Work with me here! If we all attack together, we just might pull this off!"
The three of you charge towards Joker, summoning your Personas to hit him with spells all at once— fire from you, water from Eikichi, earth from Lisa. You see Joker's Persona emerge from him, but the clown doesn't even seem phased.
"A Fusion spell..." he says, amused. "A laudable idea, but it's much too weak. You'll never best me with such a paltry offense. Eikichi Mihsina... Lisa Silverman... And you, the Thief... It's time you died! You cannot escape the wheel of fortune!" And then Joker lashes out with his Persona, an attack none of you can withstand.
Joker picks you up, using Eikichi as a foot stool so he can gain the height to lift you enough to choke you, your feet dangling ever-so-slightly.
"Those eyes..." Joker hisses at you. "You haven't changed. What kind of dreams did you build on the corpses of other people's ideals?"
"......?" You stare at him, anger and confusion surging through you. What is he talking about?
"The poker face doesn't fool me," Joker sneers. "I know. You wanted to go to college... Isn't that so?"
Yes. But how did he know that?
"Hahaha... Aaaaahahahaha!" Joker's laughter is wild, maniacal. "I'll never let your dreams come true! You should know by now... why I came to you all today!"
"What the hell are you talking about..." Eikichi groans from under Joker's foot.
Lisa manages to pull herself up to her knees. "Wh-what...? What did we ever do to you?"
Joker's head jerks towards Lisa and he finally drops you. You manage to land on your feet, but you're breathing hard.
"No..." Joker sounds almost lost. "Do you not remember!?" He takes a step back. "Impossible! This can't be... How could this happen!?"
This time it's Joker falling to his knees, clutching at his head. "What meaning is there in killing you if you do not remember!?"
Joker takes a deep, steadying breath before he pulls himself back up to his feet. "You escaped your fate this time..." He points at you. "But you will get no rest. My demons will be your assassins." He pulls out a flower. "Let this Iris be my testament... Now go, and remember the sins you have committed! Then I will claim my revenge!"
Joker flings the iris at your feet and vanishes into a crackle of dark energy. You pick up the iris and look at it for a long moment before you tuck it into your school jacket.
Eikichi turns to walk towards the shadowmen... his friends. "I'm sorry, Ken..." he says, the pain written on his every feature. "If I hadn't made you play the game.."
"Um..." Kozy's voice comes hesitantly. "Who is Eikichi-ku— I mean, Boss-san talking to?"
A cold chill runs down your spine.
"They've really been forgotten..." Lisa murmurs. It's an upsetting thought. You walk over to her. "I can't believe Joker is real... But why does he want revenge on us?"
Kozy pulls you aside quickly. "Umm... About my real name... Could you keep it a secret from Boss-san? Please..." Huh? You don't get it, but you agree to her request.
You try to talk to Ken, but it's painful to hear him talk. "My... dream...? I don't care anymore... It's not like it'll..."
"I wanted... to be a doctor..." The words seem like they're being dragged out of Takeshi. "But that'll never happen... I don't want to think anymore..."
"I have to... take over the family business..." Shogo mumbles. "But... why...?"
Eikichi looks at his friends in pain. "Ken.. You were going to be a boxing champ, right...? I was gonna cut a cool theme song for you..." He raises a hand to his face, trying to stop the sniffles. "I'm sorry... And after I promised...! If only I hadn't made you do that... Dammit!"
You've had enough— You've got to take care of Joker. But as you're leaving, Eikichi calls out.
"Wait a sec, ████... You're going after that guy, right? You should stay out of this. I'll deal with him."
Like hell you will?
Lisa runs over to you. "Whoa there, both of you! Your'e up against a real monster here! If we don't stick together, you'll die! Plus, we don't know where to start looking. Let's get someone else to do something about him— like the police!"
There's a kneejerk no reaction in your gut, but you don't even need to speak up— Eikichi's already got you covered.
"Who'd believe us!? We gotta arm up and kill that guy, or we're all screwed."
He's not wrong. You flick your lighter open and shut, trying to figure out where to even start with this. It's Kozy to the rescue though, as she runs over at an impressive speed. "If that's the case, maybe I can help..." she says. "I'll go see what I can find out about Joker. While I do that, you should prepare to defende yourselves..."
You glance at Eikichi and Lisa. It's a start.
"That reminds me..." Kozy continues. "Rumour has it the ramen shop in Kameya Alley sells weapons... Something about the owner being a former spy... With everything that's going on, why not start there?"
Bless Kozy and her skill for finding scoops.
"If rumours are coming true, it's worth a shot..." Lisa says. "Having just our Personas makes me nervous, so to the ramen shop it is!"
"She's got a point..." Eikichi says, though it sounds a touch reluctant. "We don't stand a chance against him yet. We've both been called out on a grudge we know nothing about. Let's call a truce until that guy's out of the picture." You nod— it's fine by you for now.
"We'll be safer if we stick together," Lisa says to you earnestly. "C'mon, ████. Let's chase him down together, okay?"
And so you leave Sumaru prison with Eikichi and Lisa at your side.