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Watching the scene play out...it feels too familiar. It's bringing unwanted memories back to the surface.
Ryuji watches as the cognition of Konoe's father yells and berates an empty space, one where Konoe would occupy if his shadow weren't trapped at the top of the Jail.
His fists start to shake.
"Who do you think feeds you everyday, huh!? I swear, you're just a bill."
I'm not, I'm a human being. I'm your son, aren't I? Why did you have me if you're only gonna complain about having to look after me?!
"Don't talk back to me!"
Should I not talk at all, ever again? Would that be better, dickhead?!
The cognition picks up thin air, presumably by the collar, before dealing several blows. The sound of muscle and bones getting punched echo. Ryuji flinches. The sound is still too familiar even after years of not having to hear it.
Mom..! GET AWAY FROM MOM! STOP HURTING HER!
As Konoe's frightful sobs follow, the scene continues.
"...maybe I should just kill you too. If she just handed the money over when I told her too..."
Ryuji grabs his own arm as he tries to throw a punch. His whole body is shaking with unbridled rage.
Not just an abuser...a murderer.
The man shown before him never deserved to have the title of father given to him. A disgrace to fathers, and humans.
The whimpers of Konoe, make Ryuji wince.
Konoe lost the only person he could confide in. The only place he could really call home; his mother's arms.
The Zephyrman theme starts to play, distracting everyone in the room, including the cognition.
Konoe mumbles a plan...
Kill his father.
"I'll kill him...!"
I'll kill him...
"I'LL KILL HIM!"
Ryuji grits his teeth with fury. He digs the tips of his fingers into his face to summon Captain Kidd. His Persona fires off something into the air, static crackling before lighting strikes the center of the cognition and nearly blinding everyone temporarily with such an intense light.
It strips the cognition's outer shell, and reveals another Warden, this time holding guns. However, the blast of electric energy was so powerful, it knocked the warden down right away. Ryuji makes his move, pulling out his bludgeoning weapon, and repeatededly kicking and slamming down on the warden.
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE NOT THE REAL MAN, YOU DESERVED YOUR DEATH AND MORE!" Ryuji screams.
"Quick, while it's down!" Makoto calls, rubbing her eyelids before jumping into action, with Akira and Sophia quickly following after him.
---
Every time the Warden tried to get up, Ryuji would smack his head and dig his boot back into its 'face', yelling obscenities at it...
"You think you can walk all over us? Use us to 'relieve stress' or whatever the FUCK your excuse was?! YOU WORTHLESS SACK OF MEAT AND BONES!"
"Skull, what are you doing?! Whatever it is, it's working, but-!" Futaba tries to call from above.
"YOU'RE A COWARD! YOU'RE AFRAID TO HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES! WHEN YOU WERE CONFRONTED WITH THEM YOU JUST WANTED TO IGNORE THEM! YOU WANTED THEM TO GO AWAY!"
"Why is he so angry?!" Zenkichi asks from the sidelines with a worried tone.
Akira dodges a swing from a behind him, then turning to Zenkichi's direction. "Ryuji's own father was-"
"LEAVING US JUST PROVED TO ME YOU WERE A COWARD! I HOPE YOU'RE DEAD NOW TOO!"
Ryuji pulls his weapon up high before slamming down hard enough to quake the ground. It splits clean through the warden's head, turning the warden to dust...
---
With heavy breaths, Ryuji drops his weapon and falls to his knees.
"Skull...why were you so angry?" Sophia asks as she walks up to him. "Last time you were anywhere close to this angry, it was because a voice was calling me useless. Is this a similar situation?"
"Sophie, don't ask such a heavy question, he's clearly exhuasted himself." Makoto tries to insist.
Ryuji shakes his head.
"N-nah...it's fine." He inists, sucking in a deep breath. He lifts up his hands, open palm, and looks at them in silence. "...if this weren't all just shadows n' cognitions...blood would be on my hands right now...Konoe and I aren't all that differen't if ya think about it."
Yusuke looks down at Ryuji with an empathetic gaze. "You and Konoe were both abused physically by your fathers. However, you still have your mother, correct?"
Ryuji looks up to him and slowly nods. "...watching the scene...I got memories similar to it. The entire time watchin, I was thinkin'...what if my dad pulled off the same shit? Killed my mom? I..."
Ryuji shuts his eyes and lowers his hands into his lap. Tears attempt to leak through.
"Konoe didn't have anyone! No one told him he was gonna make it out okay, no one left to stand up for him! If I didn't have my mom, I would have fallen into the same trap of vengance! F-fuck, I just did back there!"
Ann quickly bends down to Ryuji's side, going to rub circles on his back. "Skull...it's alright. We're here to listen."
Haru sits beside him as well. "That's right Skull. We're all here for you..."
"Then...it's understandable why Konoe resorted to doing what he did. He felt like he wouldn't have been able to escape his situation otherwise, and he wanted to avenge his mother..." Zenkichi sighs a bit as he grabs the tip of his hat. "He was just a kid, too. If I treated Akane like that, I feel like I'd deserve death, too...but what he did was a crime in the eyes of the law, no matter if it was justified."
"Um...could it have possibly counted as an act of self defence?" Makoto asks, placing her finger under her chin.
"...that is something he'd have to fight for." Zenkichi replies.
"BULLSHIT HE HAS TO FIGHT FOR IT! OF COURSE IT WAS!" Ryuji insists. He quickly notices his rise in volume before slumping back. "I just...he was a kid, like you said. Should he really be tried for this over what he's doin' now?"
Everyone flinches a bit, realising the mission.
"O-oh, right. Framing us and trying to brainwash people using EMMA... We know his reasons now, but...that doesn't justify it." Makoto replies, brushing some of her fringe out of her mask.
"So all we need to do now is set up a calling card!" Futaba grins.
"Yes! Let us head back to the real world." Sophia nods.
Everyone stands up and they start to leave.
However, Ryuji delays. Akira, Haru and Yusuke stop to look at him, a little confused.
"...sorry...I just..."
"Skull...it's alright." Yusuke walks over to him. "You're not alone in your struggle."
"That's right." Haru joins his side. "Our fathers were rather awful as well. Just like Konoe-san, they were all we had, so we chose to endure it, and do as they say. Because they were all we had, it was all we knew. If we knew what a mother's love was like...then we'd feel the exact way you do."
"You guys..."
Tears break through, dripping down Ryuji's mask. The trio share a hug.
"The others will be wondering where we are..." Akira insists. "Let's not lag behind for too long..."
The trio nod before following Joker to the exit...