Persona - Twenty Faces

"Does it hurt?" The cold muzzle of the gun pressed against his mangled wound. "I ask you, does it hurt?"

That voice, forever impossible to erase, echoed in the dim room.

"You're already useless and can't stand anyway… Shall I take off your other leg for you too?"

The smell of blood filled his nostrils, and the cold moonlight spilled onto the fresh blood.

Unable to resist, he gasped and thrashed like a fish out of water.

Everything overlapped with the scene before him.

Tang Ze gritted his teeth, pain and anger spreading from the depths of his memory. The roof tiles he clutched groaned under the strain, making cracking sounds.

The alert samurai shadows drew their swords in unison. Maru Denjirou, who had been admiring the prey's pathetic state, was startled and turned towards Tang Ze's hiding spot. "Someone's there! Who!"

Tang Ze stood up.

He had been crouching on one side of the roof, his back pressed against the wall to conceal himself. This movement completely exposed him to the shadows' sight.

But the current Tang Ze had no time to concern himself with the tense standoff before him.

Before his eyes, those things he desperately wanted to forget surged forth.

The gunshot and piercing pain from the cramped room, the blades that dug into flesh, one stab after another.

Hunger, hypothermia, the dripping of blood onto the floor grew louder and louder…

And then, the sympathetic gazes by the hospital bed, the sympathetic gazes that refused to meet his eyes, as if silently repeating a single word.

"Useless."

Thump—

The sound of his pounding heart echoed in Tang Ze's eardrums.

"Have you truly forgotten those hurts? Your future denied, your future ended… Have you truly forgotten?"

The innocent voice of a child, the deep voice of a man, the clear voice of a woman, as if several people were speaking at once, multiple voices overlapping in Tang Ze's mind.

"A fate you were manipulated into, an pride you were forced to break, a life you were forced to destroy, haven't you suffered enough? Do you want to feel more humiliation?"

Pain radiated from his chest to his entire body. Tang Ze stumbled two steps, clutching his splitting head, unable to suppress his pained cry.

"Stand up, stand up again. Those who don't give their all will only be swallowed by fate—"

"Ahhh—!"

As if in pain, or perhaps due to deeper emotions buried in his heart, Tang Ze roared, his fingers touching the edge of the mask covering his face.

"That's it. Let us make a contract. I am you, and you are me—

"Dance within fate with an attitude that will never be defined, with an attitude that no one can ignore!"

Tang Ze gripped the mask and forcefully tore it from his face. The stinging sensation, like tearing flesh, made the veins on the back of his hand bulge.

An invisible wave of energy roared outwards from Tang Ze. The shadows of Maru Denjirou couldn't help but raise their sleeves to shield their faces from the rushing wind.

Tang Ze raised his head, his upper face covered in blood.

The blood trickled down his nose and onto Tang Ze's lips. He licked the sweet, metallic drop of blood, and azure flames engulfed him.

When the flames receded, Tang Ze, who had been wearing his Teitan High uniform, was now dressed in black, a scarlet scarf wrapped around his neck, its trailing ends fluttering wildly in the wind.

Behind him, a shadowy phantom thief rose from the flames. Beneath his black top hat was a face with a skull mask, a leather suit was complemented by a wide, billowing cape. His all-black attire made him appear like a silhouette against the light, making the pale mask beneath the brim seem even more ghastly.

And behind it, tentacle-like black mist swirled with more pure white masks: fox masks, oni masks, Noh masks, faces of crying and laughing, all appearing eerie and bizarre.

Slowly regaining his composure, Tang Ze glanced back at his Persona, his mouth twitching.

What the heck? Why is Arsene so cool, but his mask is Cthulhu-esque? It's making me lose sanity!

Whatever, gotta play the part, or rather, gotta deal with the Palace.

"You're truly a pervert who enjoys tormenting others with money and resources, Mr. Maru." Tang Ze looked down at the retreating Maru Denjirou from his superior position. "If you weren't afraid of the law, you'd surely recreate this scene in reality, wouldn't you? Disgusting."

"Who are you! Why are you in my mansion!" Maru Denjirou's face contorted, and he roared at him.

"Me? I'm the one who's going to send you to hell." Tang Ze spread his arms, his scarf fluttering even more in the wind. "Letting scum die directly is setting them free. You should live, live and watch yourself lose your money, reputation, and status, spending the rest of your life in prison with regret."

Maru Denjirou's shadows cursed and shouted loudly, "Go capture him, all of you! I want him dead! Where are the archers! Shoot, shoot!"

Tang Ze flashed a brilliant smile and leaped backward.

He vanished into thin air before the shadows.

Seizing the opportunity before the fight began, Tang Ze quietly grabbed his phone and exited the cognitive world.

He had spoken quite eloquently, but Tang Ze hadn't sent a calling card yet. His real body in reality wasn't on high alert due to a calling card, so the treasure wouldn't manifest at all.

Therefore, defeating Maru Denjirou now wouldn't directly lead to his repentance. Tang Ze, who had completed Persona 5 three times, knew that it would take time for the process to unfold.

But that didn't stop him from delivering some dramatic lines and making a quick escape. It was exhilarating.

Just as he was about to put his hands on his hips and laugh, Tang Ze looked down and his expression froze.

Damn it, why is he still wearing the Phantom Thief outfit?!

And the person had also teleported from the shopping street to Maru's doorstep.

Tang Ze nervously looked left and right, confirming no one had witnessed this sudden appearance of a person out of thin air, before attempting to change his clothes back.

As he focused on this thought, the black clothes on his body flickered and transformed back into the blue Teitan High uniform.

It's good that I can change back, Tang Ze breathed a sigh of relief.

If he couldn't change back, he would have to find a place to hide and change his clothes after emerging from the cognitive world, which would be far too ungraceful.

As soon as he relaxed, Tang Ze felt a dull ache all over his body, and he swayed a couple of times.

So this is the power consumption from awakening a Persona, truly exhausting.

Sighing, he took out his phone and opened the navigation app—a normal map app, of course—Tang Ze noted down Maru's address and, dragging his feet, headed back to the coffee shop.

On the way, Tang Ze slowly organized the information about his Personas in his mind.

Unlike the P5 protagonist's Persona, Arsene Robin, Tang Ze's initial Persona was the phantom thief from Edogawa Ranpo's novels, the Phantom Thief Twenty Faces.

How to put it, it was a little surprising, yet not entirely unexpected.

The Phantom Thief Twenty Faces was a phantom thief character designed by Edogawa Ranpo based on the literary image of Arsene Lupin, who was skilled in disguise and changing his appearance. "Twenty Faces" referred to his proficiency in adopting different identities, said to possess twenty different faces.

He was world-renowned for stealing artworks, with superb skills and a bold yet meticulous approach. Before striking, he would send a notice to the owner of the item, informing them of the time he would act.

Does that sound familiar?

That's right, Kaito Kid's prototype was Twenty Faces and Arsene.

The arch-rival of the Phantom Thief Twenty Faces was the classic detective character from Edogawa's works, Akechi Kogoro.

Who was also the prototype for Mori Kogoro, and Akechi Goro in P5 directly referenced this character.

Thinking of this, Tang Ze slapped his forehead.

What kind of weird meme is this! Doesn't it feel like destiny is pushing me!

Moreover, he didn't believe that Maru Denjirou's Palace would have the image of a leg-chopping police officer set up for no reason. Tang Ze wasn't someone easily triggered; if he hadn't been touched by the leg-chopping scene to the point of PTSD, he wouldn't have suddenly transformed. Tang Ze wouldn't believe it wasn't intentional!

Lavenza, come out and take your punishment!