Thanks for all the review and comments yet again! Reading them gives me a great boost of enthusiasm to deliver more to read and discover in this story!

Its great to know that I managed to make Kamoshida even more vile and dangerous! Means my characterization was a success!

If you haven't started reading, get ready! Mishima shall show you why he deserves his spot in this story!

No fear, Ryuji shall return! The Phantom Thieves have plans for him ...

My apologies, the tale might be becoming too dark so I have to tone it down.

Once again, thank you to you all that have read to Chapter 2!

The story will be updated on a weekly basis, with the next chapter being released within a week of the last!

I am truly sorry that this chapter for shorter than the previous ones but real life has held me down the past week and the upcoming week is not going to be any easier with exams (sad face). But fret not as I won't give up on this adventure!

Enjoy the story and leave a review/comment as it would be a much-needed source of encouragement

Tuesday, April 12th

"...rusu-san ... Kurusu-san!"

Mishima's voice reverberated in her head noisily as her body slowly began waking up. Seeing her eyelids flutter, Mishima sighs lightly, relieved and goes to support her body to an upright sitting position. She tried to sit up by herself but the stinging pain from her stomach where she had been brutally punched earlier deflated her of any energy she had mustered. With no choice, she leaned back on Mishima's supportive arm and instead, opens her eyes to the strange nightmare she was in.

At first, she could draw relation to the 'Velvet Room' dream which she had but that one felt calming somehow, without any hostility directed at her then. Instead now, the reddish-brown brick walls surrounded the prisoners and an imposing set of metal bars and doors locked them firmly in place. Adorned on the moldy, grisly walls were shackles of various sizes, some big enough to wrap around her waist and possibly crush it while others were fitted with spikes and nails whose tips gleamed viciously at the pair. A few wooden barrels made of visibly rotting planks covered in moss seemed to be filled with water but the terrible stench it gave out, akin to a garbage dump deterred her from even considering to drink or touch it. This was a prison cell.

"Did Mr. Kamoshida ... do that to you?"

Mishima had his eyes on her hands which held her bruised stomach, trying to quell as much as its pain by applying pressure to the injury. Seeing that her gaze made contact with his own, he looked away from her and to the ground, as if guilty of something. He knew that whenever Mr. Kamoshida called anyone to his office, it was always for the same twisted purpose. Cruel pleasure at one's suffering. He had brought many to the same torturer, never daring to refuse for even he was not exempt from the brutal horrors that awaited behind the closed doors of the PE faculty office. Akari also knew that piece of information, having deduced it by the visibly painful injuries that had become a common sight on Mishima.

"Where ... are we?"

Mishima spoke up again, breaking the strained awkward silence between them. He approached the bars of their cell, grasping the iron in his hands and trying to shake it but his efforts ended up being obviously futile and thus, he tried to scout out the area, looking to the left of the cell.

"Was there such a place ... under the school? Is this ... even the school anymore?"

Akari, finally catching her breath, climbs onto her feet and joins Mishima to survey the area. It was the kind of dark, dirty prisons which you see in television or movie sets. Cages lined with glinting spikes hung from the ceiling above a flowing river, its water of a slightly grayish hue and overflowing with trash. Other cells like theirs could be seen across but strangest and most disgusting of all, both of them finally noticed at a drawbridge that connect their cell with the rest of the dungeon across the river, something from a nightmare.

"Is that ... a statue of Mr. Kamoshida?!"

To plainly describe, it was revolting. His rectangular shaped face enlarged, the eyes widened and purposefully pointed downwards to look down at whatever insect that passed by and dressed in a cape that reached down to its knees. To round off the sickening statue was a crown nestled atop his head which fit the manipulative personality that Kamoshida had. If he were a tyrant king, then he had been portrayed in that foul role perfectly.

"My oh my! Admiring me are we? You've always been such a faithful little dog Mishima-kun."

A heinous voice, mockingly directed at his prisoners. From the right side of their cell which they have not looked came the devil. Kamoshida, with a vile smirk and wearing the same attire that the statue wore. Yet there were differences that by some horrendous miracle, managed to make the man look more repulsive than he already was. The crimson red cape, adorned with light pinkish hearts of varying playful tints but underneath that was a naked body of powerful muscles and the only redeeming feature being a nauseating pair of pink speedos which loosely held his obnoxious manhood. Behind this Kamoshida, if it was even him, were three of the same silver-black metal men which they had first encountered, each holding an oversized sword and shield.

"I was told there were intruders but it ended up being a lost puppy and a common wench. What a waste of time ..."

Kamoshida, shook his head in exaggerated fashion before putting up his devilish grin again. He waved a hand forward and one of the metal man unlocked the cell door.

"The punishment for trespassing would be death but since it is the both of you filthy peasants, I am willing to spare your lives!"

Akari and Mishima backed up to the furthest walls of their cell, trying to maintain a distance with the unreal apparitions before them but there was no where to escape to.

"Mr. Kamoshida?! What is all this? This is a joke right?! There isn't such thing as a death punis ..."

8 kilograms of solid iron brutally slammed into Mishima's cheek, throwing him against the walls. His head reeling from the harsh impact, he was barely conscious but they gave him no time for recovery as his entire head was held within the hands of one of the metal men which forcefully redirected Mishima's head to a clumsy angle which threatened to break his neck.

"How dare you! You are in the presence of his Highness, Lord Kamoshida! Know your place peasant!"

He was released before his throat was crushed, thankfully one might think but death also seemed to be an attractive alternative. He falls face first in front of Kamoshida who took careful effort to put one foot on Mishima's back and exert sufficient pressure such that Mishima awoke from his state of near-death before continuing.

"It's all right Mishima-kun. After all, useless pups like you learn through pain and suffering after all! Right?"

Kamoshida waited for only a second before raising his leg and slamming down. Another second without an answer, Kamoshida lifted his leg a little slower for the dramatic climax but Mishima hurriedly wheezed out a reply.

"Y-Yes! ... L-L-Lord Kamoshida!"

Having been satisfied, Kamoshida snickered, reaching down to pat Mishima's head as he laughed in morbid amusement."

"Good boy! Just like that! You've always been one blindingly loyal dog from the very beginning! Keep this up and I won't have to reveal your sins to that serf family of yours."

Mishima's already wide-starring eyes expanded even further on Kamoshida's words. He kept his teary gaze down as he crawled pitifully away from Kamoshida, bringing up his hands to shut his ears and mind from the nightmare.

"This is truly an unjust game ..."

Akari tries her best to comprehend the scene before her as calmly as she could but the atrocious tasks which Kamoshida forced on Mishima set her on the edge. He was but only another victim like her to the abuse of a society ruled by corrupt elitists such as Kamoshida. She thought she would be ready for anything worse than what she had experienced but this was an unexpectedly hellish difference thus she could not stop herself from almost throwing up.

"Your chances of winning are almost none ..."

With an elated smile that creased his distorted features, he left Mishima, broken and defeated to grovel in a corner and turned to his second and final plaything for the day.

"Now as for you ... Get that filthy look off your face. That's not how you face a King!"

"But if my voice is reaching you ..."

She could see the roundhouse punch coming. But she had no willpower to dodge it. There was no visible glint of hope she could see. No. There had never been even a glimpse of such a miracle ever since that day, when her life was stolen from her. Her world shook violently and her glasses were knocked off her face. She stumbled into a pair of metal men who grasped each of her arms in their cold iron grips, holding her up like a martyr waiting to face judgement.

"There may yet be a possibility open to you ..."

"It is a shame that your only selling point is your face. If only your body had the right curves, I might have spared you to become my personal slave!"

Kamoshida focused his attacks on one point. Her stomach which had only just stopped causing her severe pain moments ago. Now, there was only a blinding agony that pulled her between the realms of consciousness and darkness. Kamoshida's gleeful face seemed to grow distant to her as she lost feeling of her body. She might have fallen into a deep, never-ending sleep if she had not been tossed into a corner of the cell after Kamoshida had enough fun.

"Where did your energy from earlier go to wench? You only had to submit and put on a cute, pitiful face just like how woman should! But too bad for you."

Kamoshida laughed, his handiwork strewn before him, depleted of resistance and will. Stepping towards the prison door, he waved his hand dismissively.

"Kill the bitch. The dog can live."

The metal men surrounded her, remorseless crimson eyes looking down on her as one raised its sword above its head, baring to swing it down for the killing blow.

"What's the matter ... How long do you intend to watch?"

Something within her shattered, the sound of glass shards clashing within her head.

"Are you going to do nothing at all ... death awaits you if you remain as you are."

The voice was mysterious but it gave her strength somehow. With the last vestiges of her living, she concentrated on the voice of power.

"Was your previous decision ... a mistake then?"

A flashback played out in her mind and in it, she saw the same scene that robbed her of her very meaning. The reason that she bore no existence in the world she lived in. If only she could answer the voice, she could reveal her true feelings.

It was a mistake. It was a mistake to think that there was anyone worth saving in a society where other's only save themselves. Where their own needs must come before others. And to do that, they must steal from others the truth, slander it with lies such that their own lives were safe. To steal the life of another to preserve one's own. There was no question, her decision to save the woman who ended up betraying her was, a mistake.

"Very well ... I have heeded your resolve."

Had she thought her torture was over. She was wrong. An invasion to her mind. It was hell-bent on ripping apart her head. It was burning. It was melting her soul. It was branding its mark onto her. But it could not do so without getting its price. Her thinking had shut off. Only her bestial cries from her mouth indicated she was still alive yet it belied the sanity of her self. Soon, it was over and only a maddening urge to release everything built up was left

"Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own twisted justice. Call upon my name, and release thy unholy rage!"

A new energy renewed her body. Immense power filled her limbs as she slipped through the blockade of metal men and darted towards Kamoshida. Grabbing his shoulder with a powerful hand, she forced him to turn around in shock.

"Show the unyielding strength of thy corrupted will to ascertain on thine own existence, though thou be chained to Hell itself!"

"What the?!"

While one hand firmly held Kamoshida in place, the other gripped a white bird-shaped mask that had materialized from blue flames, covering the upper portion of her face. It did not mask her wild eyes and insane grin, all brimming with a vengeance that it wished to exact. Then it came off, the mask she had hidden behind. Blood erupted from her forehead and while the pain returned, it was brief for it was the price for her awakening.

The same brilliant blue flames engulfed her but this time, it spread to shroud her entire body. It didn't burn put instead, facilitated her rebirth into her new form. A long black trench coat billowed from the rampant winds that stormed the area and as the flames began to condense, the rest of Akari's attire had changed. Her soiled school uniform was replaced with a gray collared shirt, a black skirt with stockings that sufficiently covered her lower body and her hands were fitted with scarlet red gloves. For the first time, Kamoshida felt a rare, obscure emotion he had not experienced in a long time. Fear. Desperately trying to break out of Akari's grip, he succeeds but not without falling butt first onto the ground and then stumbling onto his feet in an embarrassing display.

"This is an outrage! Kill them! Kill them all! Kill! KILL! KILL!"

Kamoshida shouted out in frustration and rage, turning tail and running towards the inner dungeons. His confused guards circled Akari who was watching the coward disappear further into the dungeons. One decided to take point, breaking the formation and rushing forward with its sword raised. But it was halted partway as its sword was knocked out of its hand, clattering against the ground away from it. It looked at its gauntlet hand, bewildered before it changed to that of surprise as a leg slashed it right down in the middle like a knife through butter. The guard seemed to stare aimlessly forward with its red eyes, admiring the monster that had briefly appeared before it before exploding into a blackish red liquid that dissolved midair.

"Ravage them, [Arsene]! Rob them of their lives!"

Akari roared, using her gloved hand which burned with blue fire to rip off her mask that had reformed on her face and unmasking herself once more, revealing her eyes which radiated a sinister blood-red glow. In response to her call, her Persona returned once more.

A gigantic gentleman, dressed in dazzling red and piano black , complemented by an extremely imposing top hat and slender wings that spread wide like a cape flying free. It swung one of its massive legs at a guard, the sharp blades attached at the end of its boots cleanly beheading its victim. The final remaining guard stood still, paralyzed in terror before it found itself engulfed in baleful energies that erupted out of the ground beneath it, as if from hell itself, cutting deep into its soul and killing it.

"W-Whoa ... is that you ... Kurusu-san?"

Mishima huddled in his corner with surprise and confusion etched on his facial expression. But soon, his face seemed to melt and merge into a swirling mess of color. It was deja vu for Akari who found herself teetering on the edge of consciousness before she blacked out completely. Exhausted physically and mentally, her many new injuries tormented any rest she would try to get.

"Oh! I was not expecting to find another here."

A boyish voice spoke.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in an unknown location

"Initially convicted for a year on charges of two accounts of murder, the TV announcer, Miss Mayumi Yamano and the 3rd year student of Yasogami High, Miss Saki Konishi. However, because of the strange and unknown circumstances behind both deaths as well as the lack of evidence to testify against you, your sentence had been short one in jail. It is rather interesting, would you not agree, Tohru Adachi?"

The man, dressed in a formal and regal suit, rose from his seat and exited the room, leaving the disgraced former police officer in a extravagant waiting room which he had been invited to. While slightly intrigued by the turn of events of which the man had mysteriously chose to bail out his remaining sentence for scum of the earth such as himself, he found it simply too boring and exhausting to think too deeply without finding out the truth of things.

"Mannnnn ... what have I gotten myself into this time?"

His sleepy eyes steeled themselves as he witnessed his surroundings morph. The room seemed to fizzle, turning a sick purplish-hue before fully transforming into something different. Standing up from his own seat, he instinctively reached down towards his trousers and grasped at thin air where his old police weapon used to be. Sighing and scratching his head, he collapses back onto the chair to watch things unfold as he assumed that this was all part of some elaborate plot and his role was just to follow the script.

An easy job to be sure ... except that he had to quickly leap off his chair before it was smashed by a baton, swung by a giant of a man, standing at least half a metre taller than Adachi himself. What was peculiar was the lack of a face on this creature, with only crimson red eyes that directed malicious intent at Adachi. But he was rather unfazed by all the malevolence for once it had been part of his daily life. Instead, the appearance of this random beast gave him a suspicion which he had to test out. Putting a hand over his chest where his heart was, he recited the words that he never ever expected to speak again.

"Persona! Magatsu-Izanagi!"

A light-blue card fell from the heavens, answering his call and it broke its seal, releasing a humongous blade that cleaves through the shadow, throwing it against the wall to splatter into a blackish-red liquid. From behind him, Adachi heard the sound of clapping.

"So I was right. You are a Persona user as well."

Chapter 3 End, Take Your Time

Thank you for reading to the end! A comment or review will give me insight on how to further improve this story!

Get ready for the next chapter! Things will get spicier!