Round Two
is a Persona 5 Alternate Universe/Peggy Sue Fan Fiction written by Rogue Ebony.
Joker defeated the false god... but at what price? His friends lay dead around him as he pulled the Trigger to drive Yaldabaoth out of existence. But Fate is kind to the Trickster for once and grants him a Second try to make things right and save those closest to him. Will he succeed? what else has changed in this new game? Akira Kurusu x Harem. lots of genderbent characters.
The story contains Lemons; on FFN, they are contained in a separate story, while the version on Archive of Our Own keeps them in the main story.
Round Two contains examples of:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Akira's summoning of Satanel to kill Yaldabaoth after his friends' deaths should have been impossible. He apparently managed due to being a rebel and really fucking mad.
- Due to the time reset, SEES and the Investigation Team don't confront or get murdered by Yaldabaoth so they are all still alive in this timeline. It also weakened Nyx to the point that Minako could leave the seal.
- Adaptational Badass:
Word of God says that Loki is far stronger than in canon and has abilities that give him an advantage over Arsene. - All for Nothing: In the first timeline SEES and the IT attempted to stop Yaldabaoth only to lose, be mind raped, and then killed without having accomplished anything.
- Alternate Universe: In the new timeline, Ryuji, Yusuke, and Akechi are girls and Mishima has a twin sister, Yui. But there are some changes even in the old timeline, like how Akechi went mano a mano with Joker in the engine room while the rest of the Thieves were Forced to Watch, and Joker outright despising Queen for much of the Bank of Gluttony over her roles in it. And, of course, the final battle with Yaldabaoth was a Pyrrhic Victory.
- And I Must Scream: In the original timeline, Minako from Persona 3 Portable was Forced to Watch as her friends and the Investigation Team were defeated, broken and brainwashed, before committing suicide while she was trapped in the Great Seal.
- Awesome by Analysis: Akechi proves her deductive capabilities when figuring out that Futaba, who is trying to mess with her online, is Sojiro's ward.
- Big "NO!": The end of Chapter 4, when Akira runs up to his room to avoid hearing Sojiro talk about his womanizing days.
- Break His Heart to Save Him: Implied. When Makoto asks why Sumire broke up with Akira if he wasn't abusive, she asks whether it would be worse to be hated by everyone or having to return where only one person cares for them.
- Break Them by Talking: Makoto delivers this to Akira by bringing up his arrest and abandonment by the people he was close to in his old hometown. It's incredibly effective due to the fact that Makoto is somebody Akira trusts deeply, but she has no idea about any of that.
- Ryuko promptly turns it around on Makoto when she sees her accosting Akira by viciously and sarcastically pointing out how her family would be "proud" of her actions and how nobody wants to be friends with a bitch like her. It's just as effective at breaking her due to the fact that Makoto is in love with Ryuko while the latter utterly hates her now.
- Bring My Brown Pants: After Akira awakens Satanael and beats the ever-loving shit out of his Shadow, Kamoshida not only pisses himself, but also shits himself too in his next meeting with Akira.
- Character Development: Morgana has gone through a massive amount of this, some of which is due to the fact that he's the only one who remembers the previous timeline besides Akira. He's deeply ashamed of his less-than-savory characteristics in the previous timeline, fully regretting how he abandoned the Phantom Thieves at one point and how he mistreated some of the thieves, especially Ryuji (prompting him to be more respectful to Ryuko from the very beginning). He's also stopped obsessing over Ann and fully accepts his identity as a cat, since he knows who he is now and is content with that answer. The only "negative" characteristic he really displays right now is a distrust of the new timeline Akechi, and this distrust is more than justified considering how much of a psychopath the original Akechi was.
- His development doesn't stop just with becoming a better person either. He's been working on several projects to help Akira (many of which are hinted to be Royal-exclusive), ranging from Grappling Hooks and a nerfed, one-time use of the Omnipotent Orb.
- Akira underwent this in the first timeline when he was learning to forgive Makoto for what she did and accept her on the team.
- Cliffhanger: Several.
- Chapter 1 has Akira literally run into a gender-bent Goro Akechi as he arrives back in Yongen-Jaya.
- Chapter 2 has Akira return to the Velvet Room in his dreams...with Lavenza and the real Igor present.
- Chapter 3 has Akira get a Heroic BSoD to the point of fainting when he meets Yuzu Kitagawa, the gender-bent Yusuke.
- Chapter 8 has Akira brought to a different Velvet Room, where Minako Arisato embraces and thanks him.
- Chapter 13 has Ryuko save Akira from a borderline-assault interrogation by Makoto by punching her in the face, staring at her hatefully.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The Phantom Thieves are delivered these in the beginning though the full descriptions are only shown later by Flashback.
- Morgana is burnt to death by lightning.
- Ann is implied to have been cut to pieces.
- Ryuji was beheaded.
- Futaba was stated to be pulverized.
- Curbstomp Battle: Yaldaboath receives a particularly impressive one when Akira summons Satanael in the First Round, he's killed in one shot.
- Akechi delivered one to The Phantom Thieves except Akira in the first timeline.
- Akechi against Kobayakawa's entire palace.
- Morgana delivers one to Akira when the latter tries to enter Futaba's Pyramid to try and help despite already being at his limit to prove a point at just how much Joker was running on fumes.
- Caroline and Justine perform a One-Hit Kill against Futaba's cognition of her uncle.
- Akechi delivered one to The Phantom Thieves except Akira in the first timeline.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Akechi and Akira
- Didn't Think This Through: Akira states that Morgana is 90% of his impulse control and it shows.
- Repeating his and Ryuko's introduction to the Metaverse by Kamoshida's castle without considering that Ryuko is a girl, Kamoshida is a pervert, and that they already had a bad history in the previous timeline. She nearly gets raped, leaving her traumatized, and Akira is kicking himself for not considering this.
- Humiliating Kamoshida at the Volleyball Rally was cathartic, but also puts Akira at risk of being expelled until he taps into Satanel's Mind Manipulation and warns how expelling him would reflect badly on the school.
- Dramatic Irony: Akechi thinks Wakaba's daughter will be fine with a large family to look after her completely unaware that she was abused to the point she became a shut-in.
- Makoto attempts to protect Ryuko from bad influences. Unfortunately, she's a Horrible Judge of Character in regards to Kamoshida and Akira.
- Et Tu, Brute?: How Ryuko feels about Makoto believing the rumors and teachers over her.
- Akira has the same feeling after hearing from Kobayakawa that Makoto reported that he's been causing problems for other students. Gets worse when near immediately afterwards she confronts him, brings up his past, assaults him when he tries to make her stop (though she misinterprets his attempt as an attack), and threatens him if anything happens to Ryuko.
- Fatal Flaw: Makoto's Horrible Judge of Character is her biggest flaw, period. It not only lead her to trust Kamoshida and attack Akira, but also made Ryuko hate her due to the two actions mentioned.
- Foil: Akechi and Akira
- Forced to Watch: In the first timeline, Akechi uses a skill to restrain the other Phantom Thieves while he fights and tries to kill Akira. Morgana is still haunted by this.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Played for Laughs twice.
- Harem: The author plans to ship Akira with all of the other Thieves, including Akechi, and all of the female Confidants, including Caroline and Justine, and Lavenza.
- Minako from Persona 3 has one of her own composed of Yukari, Mitsuru, Fuuka, Aigis, and Elizabeth.
- Yu Narukami from Persona 4 was said to have one with his whole team (except Teddie), Margaret, Marie, and possibly some other females he met due to being jokingly called a manwhore.
- Heroic BSoD: Akira upon learning how people he knew are now female, leaving both Lavenza and Arsene in complete hysterics. Morgana has the same reaction.
- Indulgent Fantasy Segue: Akira has reasonably violent ones against Kamoshida without even intending to at times.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Ann and Shiho are a couple and Makoto has a crush on Ryuko.
- Malicious Slander: This seems to be par the course at Shujin.
- Due to Akira's record being leaked the student body believes in all kinds of rumors: that he's done weapons, alcohol, drugs, that he's with the mafia, that he's part of a terrorist cell planning to assassinate the Prime Minister, that he sexually assaulted a woman, etc.
- Kamoshida spread rumors that Ryuko went to a love hotel with an older man making everybody believe that she is a whore. Students talk behind her back when she is hanging out with Akira over this.
- Noodle Incident: Soujiro apparently had to deal with people thinking he was a werewolf in high school.
- Yu Narukami apparently had to have a time reset due to trying to tell others about the future.
- Oh, Crap!: Yu Narukami has this when he realizes that The Holy Grail isn't vulnerable to Izanagi-no-Okami's Truth and that he is already at his limit as it prepares to finish him off.
- Loki has a massive one when he finds out that Akira's Persona is Satanael, arguing quite vehemently with Akechi that he does not want to piss off the guy whose Persona could eat him.
- Order Versus Chaos: This is discussed in-universe in regards to free will. Akira argues that people have Free Will, but the moment they choose to use it to hurt others they forfeit their right to have it when asked by Akechi whether performing a change of heart would be right. When Akechi asks Sae she states that Freedom isn't real as people all have obligations that restrict them before agreeing with Akechi that their are some things people can do freely and enjoy so long as it stays within the law.
- Parental Issues: The details are unclear, but Akira states that seeing his parents in any lifetime would be too soon and flat-out tells his dad to leave him alone when he calls before hanging up.
- Parting-Words Regret: Makoto's friendship with Ryuko came to an end when they were arguing about Ryuko's situation and Makoto shouted yes when asked if she thought that Ryuko was an idiot.
- Power of Trust: In a flashback, Akira explains that this is why he'll allow Makoto to make the decision in regards to whether Kaneshiro lives or dies which would put the Phantom Thieves morals at risk.
- Pyrrhic Victory: At the beginning of the story Akira defeats Yaldabaoth, but only after it has killed all of his team mates.
- Rage Breaking Point: Akira reaches his when he's the last one fighting Yaldaboath during the First Round after watching all his friends get slaughtered, he summons Satanael and one-shots the cup.
- Whenever Akechi reaches hers, Loki and Robin Hood notice a strange sensation from within.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Robin Hood delivers this to Akechi after he seemingly murdered Akira in the original timeline and states that he's giving up on trying to save Akechi's soul before disappearing.
- Repressed Memories: Akira has this regarding his previous girlfriend. She's Kasumi Yoshizawa.
- Restored My Faith in Humanity: How Akira feels towards Ryuji. After his arrest and juvie Akira became cynical and thought he could never trust another person again. Ryuji pretty much broke this belief instantly when he risked his life for him after only knowing him for an hour and not even knowing his name. Akira thanks Ryuko for this and thinks the very trope without saying it out loud.
- Sanity Slippage: After Akechi believed that he killed Akira in the original timeline he began to spiral down this while losing sense of who he was. Learning that he was alive and tricked Akechi drove the latter over the edge and made him feel that he absolutely must kill Akira.
- Shout-Out: To Code Geass
- Both Akira and Ryuko are fans of the series, with Kallen being Ryuko's favorite, and Akira frequently quotes Lelouch.
- In the previous timeline, Akira brings up to Akechi how much more Lelouch and Suzaku were able to accomplish by working together, implied to be his way of convincing Akechi to do the same.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Akira. All the trauma he received from the original timeline is still very present and it has a tendency to show up during certain triggers and even caused some amnesia.
- Morgana as well due to remembering what happened.
- Suppressed Rage: Akira when thinking of some of the terrible people who he's encountered the shadows of in Mementos or when interacting with other terrible people in real life.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Downplayed, but Akira swears way more in the new timeline. Word of God says that, similar to understanding and speaking French with Arséne, his vocubulary is influenced by Satanael's curse attribute (the emotional baggage from the events of the old timeline likely also helps).
- Teleportation Misfire: Morgana's attempts to teleport to school using Mementos land him in Ryuko's bathroom, Ann's closet, and then Makoto's bag.
- Villainous Breakdown: Kamoshida seems to be approaching his as things are now going against him and Kobayakawa isn't providing him with any assurances.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Akechi becomes one for Akira about two weeks after she meets him, to an unhealthy degree. She's unaware of why, though.
- We Used to Be Friends: Makoto, Ryuko, Ann and Shiho used to be tight knit to each other. While the latter two are still close and only drifted apart from the other two, this is especially the case with Ryuko and Makoto, with former outright hating the latter.
- Wham Line: "Makoto Niijima." Distortion Found
- What Is This Feeling?: Akechi's building romantic feelings Akira. Loki and Robin Hood find it hilarious how she doesn't understand.
- Xanatos Gambit: Akechi has Akira test out his Mind's Eye powers inside the Cafe to look for things she's hidden in order to test out it's effectiveness and if Futaba removed her bugs.
- Yandere: Akechi. Fortunately, she hasn't gone to the extreme ends of the trope yet, only having fantasies about killing Shido's shadow with Akira by her side. Her most extreme action so far with regards to her Yandere behavior (beating the everloving crap out of Kobayakawa's shadow) was directed towards someone who is very much an Asshole Victim.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: In the first timeline Makoto and Akira both believed they were terrible people. Makoto who viewed herself as a burden to Sae and Akira who believed himself to be terrible for taking delight in sadism and the suffering of terrible people. They deliver this to each other over their perceived flaws.
- You Killed My Father: Makoto's father is revealed to have been killed by Kaneshiro in the First Round and she was furious about it, especially since he was Malicious Misnaming him. Of course, this also sparked Akira's rage.
