Fanfic / Shuffled Deck: Phantom Team

Shuffled Deck: Phantom Team is a Persona fanfic by DaBossMan. It can be read here (FF.net) or here (AO3).

The premise of the fic is to shuffle the various protagonists of the modern Persona games around their various respective plots - with Yu Narukami playing out the plot of Persona 5. As such, it's Yu who bumps into a man harassing a woman, leading to his arrest and conviction and eventual exile to Tokyo, under the watchful guardianship of Sae Niijima.

Even so, events conspire to have Yu and his newfound friends to become the Phantom Team, and seek the truth while stopping injustices with their Persona-granted powers.

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This fanfic has the following tropes:

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer: The team enters one during their infiltration of Iwai's Palace. Justified in that said sewer is within the Metaverse and therefore affected by cognition, and it turns out to be a trap anyway as the sewer gets flooded while the Phantom Team is within.
• Action Prologue: Which doubles as a Flash Forward, showing the exploits of the Tricksters of the Phantom Team.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Canon Kobayakawa is a complete joke who can't even come close to threatening the Phantom Thieves. Here, he's much more dangerous on both a personal level (he's a muscular boxing champion instead of an obese Gonk) and a social level (he has Shujin under his thumb and is the first major villain).
  • Shiho Suzui and Hifumi Togo go from ordinary people to Persona wielders.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Junya Kaneshiro was a mafia boss and the host of the third Palace in canon. Here, he's a cop (who went undercover within the mob) and serves as Yu's Devil Confidant and arms dealer.
  • The canonical traitor, Goro Akechi, is a heroic individual in this story.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • Sojiro refuses to board Yu like he did Akira and takes far longer to warm up to Yu when the two finally get properly acquainted.
  • The entire town of Inaba, particular Yosuke and Rise, turned on Yu and abandoned him after he got framed. Averted later on Rise when it’s revealed that she never believed that Yu would assault anyone unless they deserved it, which is backed up by Minato. Not to mention Yousuke gets a jerkass realization when the murders starts happening in Inaba.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Yu's presence in Sae's life softens her personality considerably, and she gets on a lot better with her sister as a result.
  • Unlike the abusive drunk who ran out on his family in canon, this story's version of Ryuji's father is a Retired Outlaw who's a genuinely good father and husband.
  • Kunikazu Okumura, while still a wealthy businessman and arranging his daughter Haru's marriage, actually relents after learning his daughter has a boyfriend and even helps Yu fight off a mugger in Chapter 84.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • Dojima and Nanako are Yu's father and biological sister in this fic, instead of his maternal uncle and cousin.
  • Some Confidants common between canon Persona 5 and this fic have had their Arcana designations changed - for instance, Yusuke is now the Hanged Man instead of the Emperor.
  • Sojiro and Wakaba are now married, due to the later being Spared by the Adaptation. In addition, Futaba is now Sojiro's biological daughter.
  • Yusuke and Hifumi have no real relationship in canon aside from going to the same school. In this, they are the only friends each other have, and they're close enough that Yusuke can figure out when something is wrong with Hifumi and investigates it himself.
  • Shinya Oda and Toranosuke Yoshida were two non-party Confidants who had nothing to do with each other in the original canon. Here, they're nephew and uncle.
  • Played with with regards to the Persona 3 protagonists. Minato is Yu's adoptive cousin, but Hamuko (aka FeMC from Persona 3 Portable) is his biological cousin; the two are adoptive siblings.
• Adaptational Species Change: Morgana is now human (instead of a cat) in this story.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Kobayakawa's biggest crime in canon was covering up Kamoshida's vile actions. Here, not only does he perform the volleyball coach's transgressions, but also blackmails students and faculty alike.
  • Mitsuyo Togo's biggest transgression in canon was fixing matches for her daughter Hifumi. Here, she built a media empire on the backs of blackmailing politicians and is for all intents and purposes prostituting her daughter by having her model in increasingly skimpy outfits, causing scandal within the shogi community.
  • Munehisa Iwai, canonically ex-yakuza, airsoft shop owner, and Hanged Man Confidant, is still with the yakuza in this fic, and is the one who blackmails Ryuji into working for him. In addition, his Palace show his crimes do include but are not limited to: kidnapping, human trafficking/prostitution, scamming, gun running, and maintaining several drug rings.
  • Toranosuke Yoshida appears to have fallen victim to this trope, as not only does Akechi's investigations strongly suggest that he's the Puppet Master who was pulling Mitsuyo and Iwai's strings, but the Meta Nav indicates that he even has a Palace to boot.
• Adaptational Wimp: The canon traitor, Goro Akechi, is a rookie Persona user in this story instead of the powerful antagonist they were in the original game.
• Age Lift:
  • The twins Caroline and Justine are now (or at least appear to be) adult women, similar in age to Margaret, instead of the prepubescent children they were in canon.
  • All of the stories of the Persona series from 3 onward are made contemporaneous, meaning the canon members of SEES, the Investigation Team, and the Phantom Thieves are roughly the same age.
• Alternate Universe: With the main premise being shuffling the various Persona protagonists among the various storylines and having their adventures be concurrent to one another. This fic in particular puts Yu from Persona 4 into Persona 5's plot.
• Ambiguously Christian: Minato Arisato keeps his late father's bible and rosary in addition to quoting scripture. However, when Makoto asks him if he's a Christian, Minato just gives the vague non-answer of claiming that his father was one.
• Arch-Enemy: Akechi to Kobayakawa. He's been trying to bring him to justice for three years, and utterly refuses to give up the crusade against him.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Sae takes Yu to task for confronting two of her coworkers who were making lewd comments about her, Yu responds by pointing out that she always tells him that family sticks together and then asks her if she would take such comments about Makoto. Sae concedes the argument.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: In Chapter 88, Kaneshiro brings Yu along on a raid and gives him a Desert Eagle to defend himself. Even disregarding how completely insane he'd have to be to give as far as he knows an ordinary teenager a gun in a country with some of the strictest gun laws on the planet, the Desert Eagle is grossly Awesome, but Impractical and would almost certainly have broken Yu's wrist after he fired a single shot, turning him into The Millstone in a hurry.
• Berserk Button: Morgana doesn't take Sae saying that the Phantom Team might start abusing their power kindly in the slightest, going on a rant in the chat.
  Morgana: WHO IN ALL THE NINE HELLS DOES THAT BITCH THINK SHE IS?!?!
• Big Bad: The Puppet Master, who's not only the mastermind behind the Mental Shutdowns but is also the one who was pulling Mitsuyo and Iwai's strings.
• Big "YES!": Akechi lets out several big yes's once Morgana tells him that Kobawakawa's heart will change once his heart is stolen.
  Akechi: YES!! YES YES YES!!! AT LAST, MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!
• Bloodier and Gorier: The fights in this story are far more visceral compared to any canon Persona work.
• …But He Sounds Handsome: Yu and Akechi act like overjoyed fanboys while asking Sae how her meeting with Izanagi went.
• The Cameo:
  • Yoshikage Kira makes an appearance as a perp that Sae and Yu interrogate in Chapter 37.
  • In Chapter 102, Elizabeth shows up out of nowhere and briefly joins in on Igor and the Velvet Twins' recital of "Bury the Light" before disappearing just as quickly.
• Crack Ship: Because Shiho and Yu, as well as Hifumi and Ryuji, never interacted with each other at all in canon, their pairings are this.
• Death by Adaptation: Chie, one of the main characters of Persona 4, died freezing to death during a class ski trip prior to the events of the story.
• Death Is Cheap: Downplayed. Morgana's Revival Beads can resurrect the recently deceased with no strings attached. The only issue is that she only has 4. Yu uses the the first three to revive Akechi, Morganna, and Shiho after they were hit with Mamudo in Mitsuyo Togo's Palace. They used the last one to save Yu after the Reaper destroys Izanagi and triggers a Mental Shutdown.
• Demoted to Extra: Kamoshida and Madarame, the hosts of the first two Palaces in canon, were brought to justice by Akechi before the story even starts, which in addition to Kaneshiro being an ally this time means that the first few Palaces are hosted by different people.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • Downplayed with Saito Niijima, Sae and Makoto’s father. While he was still killed by the yakuza, here he died when they broke into his house about five years prior to Yu’s arrest instead of getting into a hit-and-run while on the line of duty.
  • According to Dojima in Persona 4, Chisato was killed in a car accident when she was going to pick up Nanako from nursery school. In this fic’s universe, she died giving birth to Nanako, with her last words being her newborn daughter’s name.
• Dramatic Irony: In Chapter 75, Morgana claims she wouldn't pamper a girl if she was a guy. Well, about that…
• Easily Forgiven: Makoto is absolutely flummoxed over how quickly Yu and Ryuji make up after their fight once it becomes clear that Yu was only Mistaken for Cheating.
• Et Tu, Brute?: In Chapter 83, Yu and Hifumi are having a fight over who's Persona is better. Yu expects Shiho to back him up, but she instead takes Hifumi's side, prompting this line from Yu
• Foreshadowing: Shiho reveals in Chapter 84 that Ryuji needed some help with homework on the Trojan War, presaging him being the linchpin of a Trojan Prisoner gambit two chapters afterward.
• Gender Flip: Morgana in this fic is now a female human as opposed to a male cat.
• Get Out!: Hifumi's father's word-for-word reaction to learning the extent of his wife's crimes, including framing his first fiancée for cheating so she could have him all to herself and them murdering her.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot: Invoked by Ryuji when he reveals that Ann is bisexual and suggests to Yu and Shiho to have a threesome with her in Chapter 87. Shiho is quick to shut down the notion.
• HA HA HA—No: Shinya's reaction to Yu declaring that one day he might surpass him is to laugh hysterically and then drop a deadpan "no".
• Hero of Another Story: The setup shows that Minato is now the one investigating the events at Inaba while Akira is now attending Gekkoukan instead.
• Hired to Hunt Yourself: Akechi is one of the lead investigators trying to capture the Phantom Team. Unbeknownst to the authorities, he himself is a founding member of said team.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Despite fate not seeing Ryuji as one of the founding members of the Phantom Thieves, he still joins them later on with the same Persona and codename he had in canon and still gets along with Morgana like a lit match and kerosene.
  • In Chapter 115, it's all but directly stated that Yosuke and Rise still became Persona users and joined the Investigation Squad. Rise's conversation with Yu also heavily implies that Death was still sealed within Minato. What this means for Akira and S.E.T. remains to be seen.
• Mistaken for Cheating: Ryuji misinterprets Yu's meetings with Hifumi as the latter boy cheating on his new girlfriend Shiho. He doesn't take it well to the point where Ryuji and Yu get into a fight that sends them to Ushimaru's office.
• Mundane Utility: The team uses Boudicca's fire powers as a makeshift campfire while resting in a Safe Room in Chapter 92.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: Hamuko may be Minato's adopted sister but they're still close enough that he's willing take a train all the way to Tatsumi Port just so he can beat the crap out of Akira Kurusu for sleeping with her.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Morgana's Phantom Team codename is "Carmen", after Ann's Persona in canon. Note that canon!Morgana had a crush on Ann.
  • Makoto following the (canon) Phantom Thieves by using a manga volume to disguise herself is referenced.
  • The pseudonym Yu uses while working at Crossroads is "Seta", in reference to his name in the Persona 4 manga (Souji Seta).
  • While infiltrating Kobayakawa's Palace, Yu complements Akechi's marksmanship. Akechi's response? "Thank you, my firing instructor said I'd make a great assassin in another life."
  • Haru tells Yu that she used to lose her phone all the time, so she and her butler decided that she should use "Noir" followed by the message whenever she uses an unknown number.
  • Caroline makes a reference to Elizabeth starting a competition, which was the basis for the Excuse Plot of the Dancing spin-offs of both Persona 3 and Persona 5.
  • Morgana adopts a cat whose description is spot-on for Canon Morgana, and named Zorro, after Canon Morgana's initial Persona.
  • Yusuke deciding to Take a Third Option after hitting artist's block while Yu and Hifumi fight over his inspiration leads him to work on Ishikawa Goemon instead, who was the basis of his initial Persona in canon.
  • Sae's Cool Bike is named "Johanna", after her sister's canon Persona which happened to be modeled after one.
  • Canon Morgana had a crush on Ann. Here, it's Ann who makes the move on Morgana instead.
  • While Yu and Wakaba discuss cognitive psience in Chapter 88, Yu brings up the fact that it would be nice to have a cruise ship within one's own mind, which is a nod to Masayoshi Shido's Palace in canon.
  • A password that the team learns during the infiltration of Iwai's Palace is "09152016", in other words the release date of Persona 5 in American date order^note September 15, 2016.
• Naked on Arrival: Morgana upon arriving in the real world, dressed in nothing but her signature belt. Akechi's reaction is to help her get dressed.
• Named by the Adaptation: Sae and Makoto’s father is named Saito Niijima here.
• Not His Sled:
  • It's implied that the Igor Yu encounters is the real deal, instead of Yaldabaoth posing as Igor.
  • Akechi is NOT the one behind the mental shutdowns, and is wholly heroic in this fic.
  • Kamoshida and Madarame were brought to justice before Yu and friends even arrive at their first Palace, thus replacing their roles in the story with Kobayakawa (who's now Shujin's boxing coach) and Mitsuyo Togo as the first couple of Palace hosts.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Many of the antagonists of the fic are shown to be monstrous due to this, from Kobayakawa assaulting Shiho, to Sugimura attempting to rape Haru one day, and even Shadow Mitsuyo Togo averting Double Standard Rape: Female on Male by considering doing it to Yu.
• Refusal of the Call: Yu's fear of being caught or killed makes him take a very brief retirement from his duties as a Wild Card.
• Related in the Adaptation: In canon, Yu and Minato have no relationship besides being fellow Wild Cards. In this story, they're cousins, albeit via adoption.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sojiro gives one to Sae during Chapter 61, regarding the latter's ineffective love advice for Yu.
  Sojiro: (In response to Sae telling him her coffee taste cold) Just like your bed. And let me give you a piece of advice. Drop the 'Ice Queen' act if you want to find a lover. If you can get a partner, you’ll be able to share what they earn, which will allow you to spend time with your sister and not break your back before you’re forty. And who knows? Maybe instead of being stuck with just giving advice about love, you could actually find it and start a family that you can actually spend time and make happy memories with. But hey, I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm not a girl, right? Just some food for thought, sweetheart.
• Role Swap AU: The premise of the fic is making Yu Narukami the hero of Persona 5 and juggling around many of the major players in the game. This also means that Minato and Akira also had their specific roles swapped with Minato becoming the hero of Persona 4, and Akira for Persona 3.
• Running Gag: Whenever the Phantom Team cast Mudo or its variants, the target will look at the Mudo doll in confusion and ask "Is this thing supposed to kill me?" before it promptly does.
• Screw Yourself: Ryuji brings up effing one's own Persona in All Aboard, to Yu and Shiho's amusement, and Hifumi, Akechi, and Morgana's exasperation, as well as sparking debate on if it's this, Incest Is Relative, or A Date With Rosie Palms, as well as whether or not it counts as gay or not. He brings it up again at the end of the chapter.
• Secret-Keeper: Dojima quickly figures out what Yu is doing, but swears to keep it secret.
• Ship Tease: Aside from the Yu/Shiho pairing made official within the fic, the fic also has Ryuji/Hifumi, Morganna/Ann, and even hints of Akechi/Makoto and Yusuke/Futaba.
• Shout-Out:
  • A Shadow yells "STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM" in the Action Prologue.
  • Transformers get name-dropped by Akechi during the battle with Shadow Kobayakawa, when he shifts from his tank form to his Humongous Mecha form, even making the iconic transformation sound.
  • While prepping Yu for his date with Shiho, Sae and Makoto put him through a training course that's very similar to the one Spy subjects Scout to in "Expiration Date".
  • In chapter 39, the Team has to grab some shogi pieces to continue the infiltration of the second Palace. When they do, a boulder starts rolling after them.
  • When Yu takes the twins to Big Bang Burger, he places an order for "Two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda".
  • In Chapter 99, after the Phantom Team secures Iwai's treasure, Ryuji find the train's intercom and decides to declare his own take on Dr. Eggman's infamous announcement, replacing "pissing on the moon" to "shitting in Iwai's Palace".
  • In Chapter 102, Caroline, Justine, Igor, and surprisingly Elizabeth all recite "Bury the Light" in order to motivate Yu.
  • During their double date between Yu and Shiho and Ryuji and Hifumi in Chapter 111, they all watch a comedy flick called "Johnny Bravovovo-vovo".
• Sitcom Archenemy: Sae and Sojiro wind up developing a bitter rivalry over who can give better dating advice to Yu. In Chapter 111, they even go as far as to pose as waiters at the fancy restaurant Yu and Shiho are having their double date with Ryuji and Hifumi just to spy on them and see who's advice benefits them the best.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Due to the Role Swap Au nature, Minato didn't sacrifice his life to become the Great Seal, with Akira doing that instead.
  • Futaba's mother Wakaba lives in this fic, although she's confined to a wheelchair.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Palace leaders so far have been very similar to the ones they replace.
  • Kobayakawa is this to Kamoshida, with both being sports stars (boxing for the former, volleyball for the latter) that uses this leverage to abuse male students and rape female ones, and both of their Palaces have them see the school as something they rule with an iron fist (the corrupt president of a country for the former, the king of a castle for the latter).
  • Mitsuyo is like Madarame in the sense that both of them are at the top of their respective fields (Art and news), and made it there through deception and ruining the lives of others. Both have a parental role to the member that joins (Mitsuyo is the biological mother of Hifumi, and Madarame is the father figure for Yusuke). Both have an obstacle in the Palace that needs to be removed via the real world, and removal of said obstacle is what brings a new member into the fold. Finally, both of them share a traditional Japanese aesthetic, though Mitsuyo's is definitely more prominent.
  • Iwai is one for Kaneshiro. Both of them are dreaded Yakuza bosses who extort teenagers, try to blackmail a specific person who joins the Phantom Team during their arc, and both of their palaces see large parts of the city as something the team needs to be invited into.
• Take a Third Option: While Yu and Hifumi argue over which figure Yusuke should make art of (Yu arguing for Izanagi, and Hifumi for Fu Hao), the artist decides he'd portray Ishikawa Goemon instead.
• Too Much Information: The general mood of the team when Ryuji recounts how he once scored a blowjob from Ann.
  Yu: We did not need to know that Ryuji.
  Hifumi: Oh. My. God.
  Akechi: ...
  Shiho: I’m sorry, what ?!
• Uriah Gambit: A variation. Mitsuyo Togo set up her former best friend and rival for her husband's attentions, Ami Ito, to make it look like the latter woman was cheating. This then allowed Mitsuyo to swoop in and marry him.
• Worf Had the Flu: Upon learning that Ryuji's father was a legendary badass Yakuza back in the day, Yu asks Ryuji how the hell Kobayakawa managed to beat him up. Ryuji states that Kobayakawa drugged his dad with chloroform before assaulting him.

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