Hey! Remember me?
Yeah, it's still not done. I had to take a break for both personal and professional reasons, but it's been four months and what I have done is already a pretty meaty chuck of content, so you're getting it now so you guys know the fic isn't dead. It's not even an ESC yet, it gets vaguely sexual in the last, like, four paragraphs.
The two tried their best to enjoy the rest of their breakfast together, but the looming presence of their impending mission made maintaining a casual atmosphere… more difficult, to say the least. After finding a secluded place relatively near the subway, Akira punched the magic word into the meta-nav.
"En route to Mementos." Chirped the pleasant female voice as reality melted away into a sea of red and black. After a few blinks, Joker found himself unceremoniously standing in the middle of Mementos' top-most level. The small room was unsettlingly quiet without the rest of the gang around. He could feel the chilly breeze of the labyrinth wafting from the escalator shafts leading down into the dark, railroad catacombs. The unsettling whispers carried by the winds of Mementos seemed denser than usual. Joker felt a hand fall on his shoulder, spooking him within an inch of summoning Arsene. He was so preoccupied with the wind that he'd forgotten he brought along Panther.
His jump made her pull away like a hand from a hot stove. "Oops! Sorry. Probably should've said something before I grabbed you like that."
Without Mona with them, the Phantom Duo had to hoof it to Matsuura's den of corruption. Luckily, with only two people—or more importantly, without a large cat vehicle barreling down the tracks—sneaking past the common shadows was relatively easy.
Panther was getting a bit nervous. When should she make her move? Should she even do it at all? The atmosphere of going after someone so personal to Ann made the thought of seduction feel… inappropriate. Before she could make her choice, they had arrived.
"Hm? What do you want? I'm a busy man." The Matsuura shadow said.
"We're the Phantom Thieves. You should have a pretty good idea why we're here." Panther growled.
"Phantom Thieves, huh?" The shadowy figure stroked his chin in mock contemplation. "Can't say it rings any bells…"
Panther's leather gloves creaked under her tightening fists "Oh yeah? How about Chiyako? That ring any bells for ya, you bastard?!"
The name seemed to catch him a bit off guard. "Wait. That dusty old broad? That's what this is about?" He couldn't help but laugh. "Thank God! I thought I might've gotten into some real fucked-up shit while black-out drunk! There must've been a mix-up down at the Phantom Offices, kids. Chiyako loves me!"
"You abuse her!"
"You say tomayto, I say tomahto. How I treat my women is my business. And if anyone's suffering, it's me. The woman's bordering on 50. Guys aint looking for used goods past their expiration date. They're looking for hot young babes like yourself, sweetie. I'm doing the old lady a kindness, spending my valuable time being with her!"
"Your valuable time sitting on your ass and getting drunk while she does all the work!? You're a leech! Feeding off the money she earns!"
"What, women aren't allowed to be the breadwinner of the family? It's [Current Year] for Christ sake! I thought the youth were supposed to be more progressive. Besides, it's my well-earned compensation for all the lost time I've sunk on her. I've only got a finite amount of it on this planet. Is it so unreasonable to expect a reward for my sacrifice?"
"You're a despicable sorry excuse for a man!" She said, readying her whip. "The Phantom Thieves will take your heart, and make you confess your sins with your own mouth!"
"So the kitten's here to scrape me. That's a shame." Tutted Matsuura's shadow. "I was under the impression you were here for a lap-dance. That tight ass is just begging to be groped."
"Nngh, gross!" she yelled, a wave of heebie-jeebies traveling up her spine.
Matsuura's shadow laughed maniacally "Hey, I'm not the one who put you in fetish gear!" He continued to laugh as his human form bent backwards, his body melting and molding into its true form: an Ippon-Datara. The one-legged blacksmith towered over them, a single, glowing eye peeking out through the brass plating that wrapped his head. Before the fight could begin, two more shadows burst from the black puddles forming on the floor, causing the Phantom Duo to jump back. These two new shadows stood between the Thieves and Shadow Matsuura.
"Of course." Panther spat, contempt dripping from each syllable. "Just like the real Matsuura: talking a big game, just to have other people do his work for him."
"It's called utilizing my resources, sweetcheeks." Matsuura's shadow said, his voice now metallic and severely distorted. "It's not too late to ditch Phantom of the Opera over there, and take this back to my place. It's been too long since I've plowed an eager young slut."
Panther leaped into action, a raging inferno burning behind her eyes. "HAAAA!" She belted as her whip snapped clean across the left-most shadow's jaw, sending it tumbling across the cold concrete before dissolving into black mist. The red-clad blonde slung the whip over her shoulder, giving the two remaining shadows a backward glance. "Alright boys, who's next?" She said, the tiniest smirk stretched across her lips. Matsuura's shadow backed away slightly, while the shadow on his right seemed unfazed by her display of strength. It dove at her; its sharp, bird-like talons primed for striking. "Oops! Not quite!" The girl taunted, gracefully cartwheeling out of the winged beast's way.
Joker couldn't take his eyes off her. Not only were her moves incredible, but all this dodging and weaving made her… feminine assets bounce and jiggle within their skin-tight latex prison. Damn cognitive world; Ann was already hot enough in reality. But no! Her rebellious spirit just had to put her in a sexy, kitty-themed, skin-tight body suit with thigh-high stripper boots and a god damn cleavage window! With the way she's moving, maybe a zipper will come loose and he could get a peek-
"JOKER!" Panther cried, just as her second opponent's remains dissolved into the air. Before he could look to where she was pointing, Joker was decked in the face by a massive steel hammer, launching him flat onto his back. The white-hot pain filling his facial tissue was quick to subside to tolerable levels—one of the perks of fighting in the metaverse being the different way pain worked—but the shock of the impact had still left the boy periodically blinded.
He propped up his torso, leaning back on his elbows, as the stars clouding his senses began to fade. He saw Matsuura's towering shadow approach his disoriented, laid-out form. It took a certain voice to fully drag him back to reality.
"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Panther belted. Hundreds of sparks began to pop from around the ground Matsuura stood before he disappeared from Joker's sight behind a wall of fire. Joker reflexively scooted away from the flames nearly licking his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Panther joined by Carmen's ghostly essence; a sexy, laissez-faire smirk to the spirit's lips, she barely looked as if she were giving any effort as Matsuura's shadow was engulfed in a spiraling pillar of raging inferno.
Carmen blew Joker a kiss before fading back into Panther's body; as the persona faded, so too did the pillar of flames. Panther fell to her knees in recoil of the sheer effort put into the attack. Matsuura's shadow was still standing as the flames sputtered out. His breath was heavy, clearly too damaged to make any quick movements; the metal parts of his body were misshapen and glowing red-hot. Joker couldn't get up, the landing completely threw-out his back. Joker aimed his model pistol and fired. The bullet traveled straight through the shadow's forehead, the soft, melting metal easily giving way to the projectile rocketing out the back of his heated copper skull. With a cry of pain, the one-legged blacksmith crumbled into a black goop that swiftly retuned Matsuura's shadow back to his human form.
Panther had seemingly found some sort of second wind, because she was on her feet again and sprinting over to him. "Akir-Joker! Oh my god! Are you alright?"
Joker slowly sat himself up, clutching his back. "Nothing that a little Diarama can't patch-up." He said, forcing a smile to try and ease her worry.
"I'm… I'm a weakling. A weakling and a coward!" Matsuura's shadow began to speak as Carmen healed the Phantom Duo up.
Panther stared daggers into the pitiful man slumped over on the floor. A torrent of curses and scorn flooded into her mind, insults overlapping one another to a state of incomprehensibility; a tempest of unbridled, concentrated hatred… but in the end, all her mouth could muster was the word: "Why?"
"I wanted to be a tough guy, okay!?" He snapped, tears welling up in his eyes. "Everyone else in my life has stepped on me! I just wanted to be the one who does the stepping for once! I don't like being the way I am to Chiyako, I don't! But if I ever let up on it, it'd just show her my weakness!"
Panther ground her teeth. This Matsuura was even more aggravating! The bastard didn't deserve pity, not even self-pity! "You leeched off her! You sit here crying about wanting to act like a big man! You know what big men have? Jobs! Get a job, you bum!"
"I had a job! I was another pencil pusher; an office jockey. But when I met Chiyako and found out she was making decent money, I quit! I quit because I was tired of being pushed around! You don't understand! You're still young! You have no idea how soul-crushing the monotonous, corporate nine-to-five business world is!"
"Do you love her?" Joker said stoically, towering over the man's crumpled form. Matsuura's shadow looked up at him, feeling no sympathy coming from behind the shadowy teenager's mask. "Do you love her?" He repeated.
"…O-Of course I love her…"
Akira offered the shadow a hand, helping him back to his feet. "Then prove it to her. You want to know what true strength is? It's the will to keep trying. Even if you've failed before, and you're afraid to fail again, you can't give into that fear. If you truly love her, it's time to start treating her right."
"I… I will… Thank you…"
As they began their long trek back to the entrance, Joker's parting words to Matsuura played over and over in Panther's head.
'Even if you've failed before, and you're afraid to fail again, you can't give into that fear.'
'you can't give into that fear.'
'you can't give into that fear.'
He was right, of course. Fear was the only thing holding her back. It was time to take the leap. "So… Matsuura really took you by surprise, huh?"
Joker scratched his face. "Uh… yeah." He said, a twinge of shame in his tone.
"Weird. You're usually never that off your guard. What had you so distracted?"
"O-Oh, um, uh, well, i-it's-uh, you see…" Joker stammered out, wracking his brain for a believable cover story.
Panther laughed, slowing her pace to a stop and turning to face him. She leaned forward, hands on hips, with a big, toothy grin on her face. "Because I think I have a pretty good idea."
Joker stood motionless—back stiff as a board—as he focused all his willpower on keeping his eyes off her bare cleavage. "What ever could you mean?"
Panther's smile only grew. It was almost intoxicating how easily her leader—the stoic and stylish Phantom Thief of Hearts—could be put under the thumb of her feminine charm; so hopelessly inexperienced with girls that a single hint of a flirt made the boy melt into a stammering puddle. "Fine. Act all high and mighty. But let me let you in on a little industry secret…" Panther looked to her left and to her right, before leaning in towards him. "Girls can totally tell when guys are checking them out." She loudly whispered. "We just pretend not to notice."
Joker could feel his face heat up. "S-Slander! I-I am insulted at this… this baseless accusation!" the pure panic of the situation had shattered his concentration and his eyes flicked down to her cleavage before Joker could course-correct his gaze back to her face. His heartrate nearly doubled as he saw the knowing smirk grow on her face. She totally noticed!
"Uh oh, your cover's blown." She taunted in a juvenile, singsong tone. "For what it's worth, you were the best at hiding it, sneaking in little peeks when you thought I wasn't looking. Certainly more subtle than Ryuji."
"Has Ryuji ever been subtle?" Joker quipped—almost instinctively—before he could even recall what it was she was referring to.
Panther chuckled. "I never said it was a high bar to clear."
A bead of sweat rolled down Joker's back. This was inconceivably embarrassing, but she didn't seem mad at him either. She hadn't stopped smiling. This was probably some sort of bonding milestone. This kind of teasing must be normal for close friends of the opposite sex, especially from a gorgeous model who probably gets gawked at daily. She'd just never felt comfortable voicing it in front of the whole gang. Joker felt content with his foolproof rationalization of events and was able to regain a bit of his shattered composure. A bit.
"But, I mean, even Yusuke takes longer looks than you. Yusuke! The gentleman!"
Joker felt his cool waver as the kitty-clad girl crossed into his personal space. Social instinct told him to step back, but fear and subconscious desire kept him rooted in place. "I mean, he's an artist." Joker said, craning his neck back in a weak attempt at maintaining a comfortable distance. "He's probably just… studying your figure."
"Oh really? Then he must have my ass committed to memory by now, because that's all he ever looks at. But you, Joker…" Panther's smile turned hungry, closing what little distance remained between the two. "You're a tits guy." She purred. Joker could feel the woman's hot breath against his neck as her hands fell onto his shoulders, her breasts just barely brushing against his chest. "I'm a little hurt you don't look at me more often." She playfully pouted.
Her touch was torture! Covered head to toe in layers of thick fabric, Joker could only imagine how soft her skin was; the warmth of her touch against his body. Joker's cool crumbled to unsalvageable dust, finally taking a step back. He may have been a supervirgin, but he wasn't an idiot. He could tell this had gone beyond playful teasing; beyond just poking fun at him for a giggle. "A-Ann… You can't be serious."
"Who's Ann?" Panther said, tilting her head in playful confusion before taking a step back into the boy's personal bubble. "I'm Panther: the strong warrior and master seductress!"
"Yes yes. You've proven your point! I am well and truly seduced! Good joOORB!" Joker's voice spiked up an octave as Panther cupped his crotch, rubbing her nimble hand up and down as she gave the considerable erection—her closeness had prompted—a good feel through his trousers.
"You weren't kidding!" She said with a giggle.
Is Matsuura the most gripping, realistic antagonist? No. But in my defense… it's Persona 5. 80% of the game's villains are cartoonishly awful people whose bad behavior boil down to deep sense of insecurity. Plus he's a Mementos villain: the optional, throw-away villains. Honestly, I'd say Matsuura's motivation is better written and makes more sense than a lot of the game's actual Mementos villains.