"Wonder! Wonder's back!"

There they were; pounding at his window, yelling, cheering, some screaming hateful words, but they all bled into each other until all Ren could hear was a dull roar.

He groaned and turned over, squeezing his crimson eyes shut against the light. He ached all over, as if he'd spent the night in the energy-draining Metaverse. When Ren moved to throw his pillow over his eyes, a bout of dizziness sent him to the ground. He felt disoriented. How would anyone reach his attic room, hidden as he was by the roofs of Yongen-Jaya? It was far too early to be awake, and it was dustier than usual. Perhaps he'd forgotten to sweep.

He opened his eyes slowly and watched the illusion dispel itself. The wood floors became crinkly with dust-covered papers and his workbench morphed into a cluttered desk. Ren was in Jamestown now, and news seemed to have already spread. Morgana, being an independent cat, was gone, probably to scout the area more.

"Wonder! Wonder!"

"Keep it down!" his mother hollered, the sound ringing sharply through his skull. Ren groaned again and pressed his clumsy hands against his ears. He didn't feel well at all, and the last thing he would need was a headache.

Arsene's groggy-sounding voice echoed quietly in his mind. What time is it? His Persona lapsed back into a half-conscious state, content to listen for the time being.

A response would have been redundant, with children calling out, "Wonder, Wonder!" and pounding at his windows. For Yaldabaoth's sake, was the whole town at his window? The glass would surely break soon... and his mother would have him clean it. He had no options; it was time to face the day.

At least the day had the nerve to face him first.

The gaggle of children cheered as he slid open the window. The sun was just beginning to peek over the ash colored buildings, and the first few rays fell on him. Ren eagerly soaked up the warmth, letting it chase away the frozen four hours of uneasy rest. He didn't sleep well anymore, he knew, since his body refused to relax. The Trickster blinked the sleep out of his eyes. His head pounded, giving every noise a rough kind of sound for the time being.

"Wonder, we missed you!" they called eagerly. Their faces, filled with genuine excitement about him woke him up like a bucket of ice. If he was tired, the gaggle of nine and ten year olds must be exhausted from waking up at sunrise. And they got up just to see him?

He laughed, knowing sleep had darkened his eyes to a understated dark color that was almost black. Almost, if not for the gold Shadow flecks, a souvenir of Satanael and broken chains. "I missed you, too."

One little girl piped up eagerly, her eyes ones Ren remembered as emerald green. Now, they made him think of the forest around the lake somewhere in Shibuya. "Will you please show us a trick?"

He remembered her, alright. Just days before his arrest, she had told Ren that she was going to adopt him. He knew she was serious, but that her parents hated him. Still, it was good to see Trae was as happy as always.

He closed his eyes and crouched on the window ledge, his balance perfect. Ren knew the children wouldn't touch him. "Are you ready?" Ren's slow voice took on a singsong quality. He sensed them move closer, their excitement almost palpable.

His love used to perform the same way, he knew, in front of cameras and politicians instead of children crowded in a backyard. Ren's heart tugged and he felt his right hand close around open air. Goro Akechi was a flawless showman. He would be the same.

"All you have to do," he sang slowly, feeling them lock on like a snake locks onto a flute, "Is say a few key words, okay?"

He pulled words from Leblanc, from Yongen-Jaya, from the chaos of the Metaverse, and twisted them into a spell. Ren knew this one by heart, words from a demon lord, a twilight pillager, and a red-eyed Traitor with a shredded heart.

"I am thou..."

"I am thou!" they chanted, eager voices crying the simple phrase to the sky.

Master, Arsene's deep, sultry voice shook. This is unnerving. Changing the view of the masses is one thing, attempting to control them is quite another.

Perhaps. Only, he would learn from his love's mistakes. Ren would not control them forever, only long enough to finish his performance. This town of fools had been too long without him. Parents or no, escape or no, it seemed appropriate to shake this place to its very foundation.

"Thou art I..."

"Thou art I!"

For just a moment, he was Goro Akechi, exerting his ideas onto the masses. "Thou who art willing to defy society..."

"...to defy society..." the children echoed.

You must be the most daring human I have ever met, his Persona decided firmly, yet he was smiling.

Ren wrapped the compliment around himself, forming a shield against reality. This was his world, hidden among the ash buildings of Jamestown, and here, he made the rules. "...And storm the gates of the gods themselves!" He sensed Arsene's amazement as the children repeated the words. Most of them were old enough, and certainly smart enough, to know exactly what they were saying. Perhaps not the significance, the weight they carried, but they knew the importance. A comforting, spicy scent wove itself around them.

He felt his lips turn up and a smile grow on his face. "Call out my name," Ren quoted, finally turning himself inwards, to his soul-bonded. For a moment, they were one. They stood and spread their arms, balancing on the tiny windowsill. The children cheered.

"And break thoust chains!"

"Wonder!" the children cried in unison, and the soul-bonded Thieves leaped high in the air, spreading their wings.

Through their closed eyelids, they felt the rising sun on their face and the wind twining around them. Utter peace settled over them. It was almost as if they were flying again, something they'd missed since the deadly fight against a False God, when Arsene was sealed with his master.

They knew the children, the only ones that weren't fools, would be amazed, as they turned once, twice, three times in the air. They landed kneeling, with their wings spread out behind him, blocking the crowd's vision. Then turned and snapped their eyes open.

Crimson light exploded over the brilliant, multicolored backyard. The sun shone fully, blazing along paper-mache, childish drawings, and tall blades of kaleidoscope grass.

At the moment the fools gasped, Arsene and Ren separated. Spots danced in front of his eyes as his head swam. He felt as if he was underwater. No, he was definitely exhausted. But Trae had woken up early to visit...

The children swarmed him, grabbing his arms, his shirt, begging him to do it again, to show him his eyes, to do a number of things, most of which Ren had no intention of doing.

Quite a performer, aren't you? His ember voice hummed with amusement. Arsene sighed. It's been some time since we've used our bond.

You enjoyed that, he said. It was by no means accusatory, but a simple statement. And, he thought, most definitely a shared sentiment. Despite the vaguely sick feeling at the back of his throat and his echoey hearing, Ren had enjoyed the dramatic flair. He hadn't done something like that since he busted through a window in Sae's Palace.

I have no idea what you're talking about. After a somewhat dubious silence, Arsene cracked up. The warm-summer-nighttime sound made his cheeks flare, and his Persona laughed even more. If it weren't for the awed children around him, he would've buried his traitorous, blushing face in his hands and die.

Just why did Arsene's laugh have to be so beautiful?

You're a mess. Arsene choked on his laugh.

Shut up! Oh, he wished he had Necronomicon's power so he could vanish into the air. Ren would never speak to his Persona again. Shut up, shut up, shut up-

"Wonder! Wonder! Wonder!"

Of course, before he could decide how best to hide from Arsene, he had to finish with the crowd. Ren shook off his embarrassment and bowed, and they cheered louder. He found himself smiling for the first time since he'd returned. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey!"

Footsteps. Thumps. Angry shouts.

Danger.

Ren's beautiful, colorful world shattered around him, the pieces fluttering weakly around him before disintegrating to ash, mingling with the ugly concrete of the backyard. The children muttered in disappointment as he bowed and promised a show later. Only one stayed, a little girl with the forest-green eyes. She stared up at him and clasped her hands together, pleading.

He knew Arsene's heart had melted when his voice shook. Little one, it's for your safety.

"Please, mister?" Trae begged.

Ren shook his heat and ruffled her short, ash-dark hair. "Later," he said with a smile. "I'll add something special for you."

Her eyes widened and she squealed with delight. "Promise?" she asked. For an instant, color seeped back into the world, and Trae's moon-pale skin was bathed in dappled green and yellow light. The forest spirit winked, then pounding footsteps shook the illusion away.

"Promise," he agreed. He gently pressed his left hand into her back, pushing her a few steps. "I'll see you later."

Trae had only just left the backyard before eight males spilled in, circling out on the worn cement. Ren could name each of them, although they shared the common dark hair and moon skin and vicious black eyes. Three tapped the flat of knives against their palms. Two were barehanded. The remainder brandished bottles or clubs, likely whatever they'd been able to find on such short notice, as their punching bag had returned. It wasn't as if Ren had made himself an easy target, though. He was simply the odd one out. If the hand had been different, he'd be the ignorant, cruel leader and the Alpha would be in his shoes.

"Hey," Reug laughed to his pack. They were a gang of sorts, who proudly claimed the territory between the school and his home. "The circus is back!"

This, Ren understood, was headed for a fight.

Another grunt snickered. "Freak, put on a show!"

Yaldabaoth had been defeated. Everyone in Shibuya had been happier, with their stress gone and their focus on the world in front of them restored. They had been free to make their own decisions and create a brilliant future. Yet nothing, absolutely nothing, in the backwater town had changed.

Except, perhaps, him.

Ren lifted his head to meet Reug's eyes. He jolted back at the red, and probably more so at the fire behind it. "Still leading your puppies around?" he asked calmly.

"We've grown," Reug, the Alpha, stated. "Kneel like a good dog, freak. And put on a show."

Blunt as always.

"I am no animal," Ren told him, chin tilted up with pride he'd only gained through the Thieves. "I will not dance for you."

"Hey, hey! The monkey can talk!"

But had anything truly changed? Phantom Thief or no, Godslayer or no, Ren was still no one, with a future entombed in a cubicle and a home with a fire long since burned out. He would be treated the same, forced into a marriage with a nice enough girl, but neither of them ever happy.

So it would be, and the Trickster would be caught, chained down, and sentenced to death in a mundane life.

Tears pricked at the edge of his eyes. "I am no animal," Ren repeated, more to himself than the pack drawing closer.

"You are ours." Reug cracked his knuckles. He, Ren knew, always preferred barehand fights, and the satisfaction of taking whatever clumsy weapons his victims had; whether it be a knife, a shirt off their back, or their superhuman defiance (in his case,) Reug would always go for it. "And you'll always be."

Arsene, who had been silent until that point, spoke quietly. Eight of them. Any weapons on you?

No. Ren sensed one pack member close in behind him. Barehanded, mercifully. The first thing would be to take one of their knives, even if they were of poor make.

They shouldn't be a challenge, his Persona said, but he was hesitant. Doubting. Everything in Jamestown was an illusion, and they carried their weapons with a casual hold. Arsene understood how dangerous they were. Are they well-trained?

Yes, he answered simply. It was customary, at age eleven, for the father to teach their children any combat skills he had. Although Ren had trained alongside the Wolf and Akira ever since he could walk, giving him more speed and grace than the others, he was outnumbered. It was an even fight at best.

Reug narrowed his eyes and his chin dipped. Attack.

Ren lunged to the right, tucking himself into a roll a moment before a knife embedded itself beside him in a crack in the pavement. Excellent. Anh had terrible aim, which he'd been gambling on. He scooped it up and tested its weight, then Reug came at him.

He was fast, made faster by the year in the Metaverse, but the Alpha, unlike his grunts, was both strong and clever. After a solid minute of Ren weaving around various blows and playing his cards close to his chest, Reug grabbed his collar and the Trickster slashed at his arm. Blood welled up, but a second later, he was on the ground with the breath knocked out of him. Out of instinct more than necessity, he found his hand was clenched around the knife hilt, but the world spun and black spots speckled his vision.

That bastard had tripped him!

Ren scrambled up, fists balled, and eyes trained on the four in front of him. The remainder shuffled behind him, likely assuming they went unnoticed. Clubs and knives behind him, barehanded in the front. Distraction. An efficient one too, he thought, taking a running start and flipping over Anh, shoving his face into the dirt. Would it be smarter to finish the fight or run? The black picket fence would be too easy to get to.

No, the pack ruled the town, and certainly had recruited more people than eight. If Reug had any brains, he would have them circle the perimeter.

He was rewarded for his distraction with a blow to the jaw. Ren roared, throwing his own fist an inch from Anh's, then as he grabbed it, bringing his knee up. Underhanded, but useful. He thrived on underhanded tricks.

Speaking of underhanded, where were the remaining four?

Reug jumped out at him, arm now dripping blood across the backyard. It would be his job, he knew, to clean it up. The thought filled him with hot fury, and Ren angled the knife for his shoulder. Not a lethal wound, Ren was sure of it, but it could be if he'd aimed a little to the right. Even so, he yanked the knife out, leaving a nasty stab wound. Reug stumbled, and Ren kicked him in the chest. He didn't get back up.

With two down, he turned around to deal with the other, just as a wave of dizziness crashed over him. His head spun and the knife vanished from his hand, dripping blood through the mist clouding his vision.

What the--

Ren snapped out of it in time to feel a heavy branch crack against the back of his head. The force of the blood sent him to the ground, hearing more than feeling the sick slap of skin against the ground, and the solid thuds as the grunts started kicking him. Numbness spread through him.

What was that? Arsene asked, finally speaking again. His deep voice sounded as if he was standing- well, sitting- next to him instead of being in his mind. Spice wove the air. His senses were slowly returning, and it hurt.

Oww... Ren grunted as a boot slammed into his ribs. He snarled and snapped for his foot, slamming the pack member to the ground with a quick move. He jumped up, body aching, and surveyed the colorful world. Four pack members down; two knives, Reug, and now a bottle-wielding one. He felt woozy.

Ren, duck!

He fell flat and a sweep of black flew past him, tackling the last knife-wielder. They crashed to the ground, groaning from impact. The pack had fought on concrete, but they trained in padded rooms. Ren had been raised to tolerate pain, being too skinny and shadowlike to efficiently wield most weapons.

Ren danced around a few clumsy blows and snapped up another blade before going for his windowsill. Red and black light flickered, flowing around him. Ren imagined Goro balancing next to him, as they had on the roof of Sae Niijima's Palace. There was bloodlust in his wine-red eyes, he remembered, and he had to wonder if it was for Shadow pain or for Joker's death.

Either way, he was beside him now, urging him forward like always. You're not a weakling, are you? he laughed.

Now.

His blade speared the pack member with a bloody branch in the seam of his pants. Ren snickered at the scream of agony as he curled up in a fetal position. He could just about see Goro smirking.

The two jumped backwards in unison, landing on the bed an instant before a bottle shattered against the window. Three pack members clambered into his room, stumbling on the loose floorboards and eyes searching the dusty room- Jace, Jack, and His-Eye-Is-Black. Ren knew his actual name was Anise, but anyone who called him that got a black eye. He'd been on the receiving end of that fist a few times, and had rarely been hit after that.

Just as the one with a two-by-four lunged at him, the door crashed open.

Arsene yelped, the first high-pitched sound Ren had ever heard out of his Persona. If it weren't the Wolf that bared his teeth at the remainders of the pack, he would take the opportunity to give Arsene a taste of his own medicine.

He'd just have to tease him later.

"What's going on here?" the Wolf growled. He surveyed the room, and Goro's illusion vanished. Then he glared at Jack, who'd slammed against the wall instead of Ren. Jack whimpered and scrambled back like a scolded dog.

Ren answered, amusement sparking his courage. "I think they wanted to say hello."

Arsene choked, but the three backed up fast. Are you sure you're alright? I think whoever cracked you on the back of the head messed with your brains.

He answered his Persona with an annoyed huff.

Careful, Ren, Arsene warned. I can sense stupid, you know.

Ren was seriously considering ways to kill him at this point.

"Take the bodies with you," the Wolf snarled. "This property is claimed as mine. Do not come back."

Anise, the only one with guts, as far as Ren was concerned, stepped forward. A dog challenging a predator, he thought. "Why should we? You're retired. You-" The Trickster was right when he said the town was filled to the brim with fools. Even after years of watching and training against him, Ren could barely see fist that drove Anise against the wall.

"Say that again," the Wolf rumbled, dropping the ash-haired pack member on the ground. He laid on the papers, gasping for breath. Sweat soaked through a few of them, and several pictures disintegrated as liquid dripped on the drawings. He bowed his head to the Wolf, acknowledging defeat, then turned to glare at Ren.

"We'll be back," he hissed.

"Take the bodies with you," Okami hissed back.

With a final cruel look, the three vanished out the window.

Ren exhaled, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He felt lightheaded, enough so that his knees wobbled when he stumbled to close the window. The world was red-tinted at the edges, and he braced himself against the wall, hoping his eyes would focus.

"Cub."

He whipped around. The Wolf stood not a foot in front of him, and cold prickled the back of his neck. Ren bowed, as he'd been taught. "Sorry for the noise," he said. The Wolf hated being woken up and didn't particularly care for words, but coming to blows would almost certainly put him in bad shape for a while. That had to be avoided.

"I saw you." He folded his strong arms. Ren had heard rumors, of course, that he was powerful enough to defeat a hundred men in single combat. It made him wonder how Akira and this blunt, superhuman force had even met. "You're faster. They've gotten stronger."

Ren touched the back of his neck and examined the tips of his fingers, which dripped red. The one with the branch must've hit him harder than he'd originally thought. He wished the pack member was here so he could go for their throat instead of their balls. Or fire off a few rounds of ammunition, but of course, only the police had guns here.

"I trained while I was away," Ren said, a bit louder and more defiant than he usually dared to be. Perhaps the blow had messed with his head. "Did they?"

"Yeah." He jerked his head towards the fence. "Next time, fight them on your terms."

He nodded sharply, if only to get the Wolf to leave before he smelled weakness. Ren felt woozy, and the back of his head was hurting badly. Unfortunately, his father hadn't been an undefeated Alpha for nothing.

"You're injured."

Ren didn't respond, unnecessary as it was. He knew the punishment that would follow, training with his hawk-eyed mother for grace and swiftness, and the force of nature that was his father for strength and pain tolerance.

"We review defense in an hour," the Wolf said. "Rest until then." Ren nodded to him politely. He felt strange, like he was floating, and he was beginning to go numb. It wasn't a good feeling.

His father paused at the doorway, then in a swift movement, pulled a flag out from under his bed. Ren tensed, knowing that if he wanted that back, he'd have to move faster than a god. Still, it would be next to impossible to take it before Akira appeared and hollered about the ruckus.

Foolish, spoiled woman, Arsene hissed, quieter than before.

"Let me remind you," he said, "That I am the Wolf. I know you, cub. You may have destroyed a god, your world may have been changed, but we are the same as ever. Jamestown would have to be destroyed to start over. Lose the ideals, cub, and you'll live better."

Hot anger raced through him, giving Ren a clearer head and perhaps weaker "people skills," as Akira called it. "I don't care how you know I faced the False God, but I'm not here for a long life. I'll live how I want."

Okami was silent for a moment. Ren prepared to defend himself.

Instead of attacking, the man shoved the flag into his arms. "Take today off. Think it over and prove your ideals in the week, Thief." He finally smiled, a sharp thing molded to inspire terror. "And put that up."

Then he vanished out the door.

Arsene sighed as the door closed, and Ren all but collapsed on the ground. Blood dripped off the back of his neck. So it hadn't been sweat, he realized in a distant way.

Ren, I hate to be the one to say this, his Persona started.

Oh no. Had he missed something important?

Morgana's not here, so I have to do this.

No. It wasn't important at all. It was this again.

Arsene inhaled dramatically.

He closed his eyes.

LOOKING COOL, JOKER!

----

Words: 3891

Thank you for reading, wonderful people! This being my first Persona 5 (published) book, I expected ten views max on the first chapter, then everything else going back to zero. This is so much of an improvement than what used to happen to me, which means I'm either making progress in my writing or finding fans who love the game as much as I do. Possibly both.

Anyhow, I've laid the groundwork. Things should start picking up right about... next chapter. Honestly, Morgana's going to be the most difficult thing to work around here, since I'm trying to stick as close as I can to canon (canon you are so annoying to work around, but i love you.)

Again, thank you for reading! If there's some way I can improve, other than adding five-hundred word or whatever a/ns at the end, please tell me! I need all the advice I can get.

(and the a/n's aren't going away. Get used to it :P)

Robin out!