Persona 5: Midnight Heist

Prologue/Chapter 1

"Begone."

The final thing heard by the god of control, the holy grail, the people's wishes, as the true trickster stares it down. With the support of the entirety of Shibuya beneath them, the trigger is pulled, releasing the sinful shell from the barrel of the demon lord. Almost as if it happens in slowed time, the bullet of the deadly sins pierces Jaldaboth directly through the skull into the new horizon, the new beginning, visible through the newly formed representation of defeat.

Time passes as the god struggles to retain its prior domineering position against the minuscule Phantom Thieves. The tables have turned, however, with the Phantom Thieves being obstinate while Jaldaboth is the minuscule one. The sparks of light start to peel from the god's form, and with this realisation, it responds.

"What power..." followed by a long pause as its voice echoes throughout the sky. "It surpasses my own... a god born from the wish of the masses..." again followed by an even longer pause. "So this is the true trickster..." which is led by a much shorter pause. "Damn that Igor. It seems he wasn't spouting nonsense."

The god is able to release a final message. "One way or another... I will prove that de-" with this message being shortened by a flash of light. When the light dissipates, it reveals many sparks of light where the deity previously remain. The sparks converge into a ball of light, slowly flying off into the distance, semi-parallel to the horizon.

It takes some time for the teenage thieves to acknowledge they have won. They waved their flag of rebellion and defeated a god. A god! It would almost seem too perfect if they didn't think about how this would be their magnum opus along with how this was their last job as the Phantom Thieves.

They couldn't possibly be anything more badass. They contemplated with one another. Surely.

The ball of light, created from the god's remains, remains inactive, yet prevalent and animate. The light cannot remain in this form for eternity and that midnight, it searches for a host to give its power to. Many individuals are deep in sleep for it is Christmas the coming morning, however, there are small clusters of teenagers and young adults indulging in drinks for the Phantom Thieves' success that afternoon.

Using its unearthly powers, the remains of Jaldaboth discover a shocking finding: the Metaverse remains, despite the destruction of that dimension being inevitable through its defeat. After concocting a plan to pass on its power, it searches for palace rulers in the vicinity. There are many hosts to decide upon. Low-level thugs; abusive family members; the madman of Takuto Maruki... well, that is not a bad idea. With his persistence in his desire, he appears to be very capable of having the god's power. However, it must not risk anything by putting all of its eggs into one basket. So while a majority of the power is sent to Maruki's inner spirit, the rest of the light searches for another palace ruler's soul to rest its power. There are many options, multiple corrupt businessmen, depressed souls looking for hope, with all of these options viable, except for the fact that they simply have shadows in Mementos. It needs something stronger. However, after searching for a palace, it finds the perfect candidate. Someone who has a palace and a strong enough distorted desire: Tomas Crosson, the foreign first-year of Shujin Academy and avid supporter of the Phantom Thieves. This fact guarantees the light targets him in spite of the Phantom Thieves.

At the brink of midnight, Crosson is observed fast asleep, like many others in Shibuya, which the light takes advantage of to enter Tomas' heart easily; into his palace. After entering his palace, the ball of light travels directly to the shadow without acknowledging the cognition of the palace. At the resting spot of the shadow stands Tomas' shadow, featuring the same short, night-black hair and square glasses of its ruler. The shadow approaches the ball of light and, appearing to understand the purpose of the light, offers his hands to the light.

"I comprehend. Give me your power." The only sentence said to the light before it launches into the shadow. Followed by maniacal laughter from the illusion.

At that moment, Tomas in the real world receives incomprehensible dreams, speeding through his mind a mile a minute. These dreams appear to be about a group of thugs taking the hearts of criminals, just like phantom thieves. He follows these thieves take the hearts of an abusive school teacher, a plagiaristic art teacher, a corrupt politician and multiple others. The detail and ingenuity of these dreams ensure that these dreams become ones that remain with the dreamer for a while. So why did his life become so much better over the coming days? Was it to forget these dreams?