Taking Hearts, Breaking Limits (Persona 5 Royal x Final Fantasy VII)

XXIII

5/7 - Saturday - After School

Joker's POV

How they got the Mona-car down an escalator was a weird process, but it'd be best not to explain.

They descended into the first floor. The place was a giant underground tunnel system, with old-style train tracks and more of those weird red veins crawling across the walls and sometimes the floor. When everyone saw it, they were stunned and awestruck.

"Man... this place totally does feel like a Palace." Skull called out.

"Yeah... I guess it'd be strange driving on the tracks like this in the real world..." Panther thought out loud.

"How big is this place, Mona?" Joker asked.

"This part is most likely just the first level of this place." the Mona-car explained. "Don't worry, it won't be the size of a Palace. Nakonohara's Shadow should be in a different segment somewhere. We need to find the entrance to that segment."

"And what's the entrance supposed to look like?" Cloud asked.

"No idea, but strong distortions should be a pretty obvious visual clue."

"For real?! So we just gotta go wanderin' around for it then?! What a goddamn pain in the ass..." Skull complained.

"Oh, stop whining, will you?" Cloud scolded him. "We'll just have to drive around until we find it."

Cloud put a foot on the acceleration pedal and they started exploring the level they were on. The entirety of Mementos looked so weird and mind-bending. They drove into the tunnels and over the train tracks, trying to find the entrance that Mona was talking about.

The drive didn't last very long though. After driving for around two minutes, they spotted something on the tracks.

It was a weird humanoid creature that was a reddish-black. Its body looked like moldy goo. It wore a white mask over its face and had blue illuminating eyes.

"What the eff is that thing?!" Skull panicked.

"Relax. It's just a Shadow." the Mona-car said.

"But... why does it look so different?" Panther wondered.

"The look of Shadows depends on the cognition of Palaces. In Kamoshida's Palace, since it was a castle, Kamoshida saw his Shadow lackeys as knights. Here, well... they probably just look like that because that's what the world thinks what their inner shadow or something looks like. At least... I think."

"You're so hopeless sometimes, Mona..." Skull murmured. "Well, enough about that shit. How do we ambush it? Do we just get out of the car and rip its mask off?"

"I prefer a more... "precipitate" approach." the Mona-car snickered... if cars can somehow snicker.

"Preci-what?" Joker said.

"Hey Cloud," the Mona-car said, "put your foot on the gas."

Cloud's eyes widened. "This is so stupid..." he mumbled. He followed his orders and put his foot on the acceleration pedal, making the car go full-speed.

"WAIT, CLOUD! WE'RE GONNA CRA-" Panther shouted but she was a bit too late.

The Mona-car crashed headfirst into the Shadow, making it fall over. The team looked out the window and saw if it was still alive. Unfortunately, it was.

It then turned into a black puddle of goo and three green, slime-like Shadows (which Joker had never seen before) sprouted out of it, similar to the ones in Kamoshida's Palace.