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A meowing woke Ren from his slumber. He blinked a couple of times, clearing the last bit of sleep from his eyes, and took in his surroundings. He was in the back of a train car, empty seats lined up in front of him. In the seat across from him was a backpack, bursting with his clothes for this trip. He turned and saw his open school bag, empty besides a few cans of cat food. Ren sat up in alarm, Morganas was absent from his hiding space, and if found, threatened to get them both thrown off the train. Ren heard more meowing and turning to the source. Morgana, starring out the train window, was meowing in delight, tail twitching back and forth. He looked back at Ren, smile clear to see on his face. “Look” he purred “its Inaba.” Morgana jumped down, allowing Ren to look out the small train window. After Ren’s eyes adjusted to the bright sun the tiny town came into view. Ren started at the beautiful town, face pressed against the glass. All of a sudden the door to the train car behind them opened. Ren grabbed Morgana, meowing in protest, and stuffed him into the school bag, zipping it shut. He threw himself back into his seat and pretended to be sleeping. The steps stopped next to his seat, but after a few seconds they moved on. Ren continued to pretend to be asleep until he heard the steps exit to the next train car. As soon as they left Morgana burst out of the bag he was stuffed in, and hissed at Ren. “Don’t just stuff me in there like that! I’m a thief, I know how to hide!” After his brief burst of anger he rested his head on the bag and sighed. “I can’t wait to see everyone again.” he said staring out of the window, far into the distance. “Especially lady Ann” he sighed, this time full of longing. “Thank goodness Yusuke won those resort tickets, I would have went crazy if I wasn’t able to bask in Lady Ann’s beauty soon. Maybe I should have stayed with Lady Ann instead of going with you…” he trailed off, resting his head on the edge of the bag and closing his eyes. “Now approaching: Inaba” the train speaker said. “All right! Were here!” Morgana said, perking up. Ren put on his backpack and draped the school bag, along with Morgana in it, over his shoulder. He went and stood by the train door as he waited for it to open. As the train slowed and approached the station, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. The doors opened and he stepped off, Morgana peeking out of the bag in excitement. He walked a couple of feet away from the train car, and unfolded the letter he received, Morgana peeked over his shoulder to read the messy note over his shoulder. “Dear Ren, I’m so glad you can come! I can’t wait to see you again! And Morgana! Everyone is excited to see you again! It hasn’t even been that long but it feels like forever.” The handwriting suddenly changed to be far neater. “Ren, Futaba was never going to get the point. The back of this letter is a map from the train station to the inn drawn by Yusuke, as well as one of the inn vouchers he won. We all can’t wait to see you." -sincerely, Makoto. Morgana gave a little rawr as Ren flipped over the letter. Half of it was filled with a very detailed map, looking almost as if a satellite had taken a picture. Half way up the page a small note was scribbled. “I’m sorry Ren, I am unable to complete this map as I have an art assignment for school due. I have left the rest of the map in the capable hands of Ryuji.” Above the note the map was just a single scribbled arrow that pointed to a random dot labeled Amagi inn. Ren frowned, sensing the uselessness of Ryujis portion of the map. “Stupid Ryuji” Morgana muttered, voicing what they both were thinking. Ren sighed, and checking that his phone had no signal, decided to follow the half of the map he could.
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Ren followed Yusuke’s part of the map easily, the tiny streets and houses Ren passed were copied with immaculate detail on the map. Morgana stepped out of the bag and breathed in the fresh country side air. Passerby’s stared at the obvious tourist, whispering to each other whenever he passed. A dog barking caused Ren to look up from the map. In front him a small white Shiba Inu wearing an orange jacket was trotting up to him, leash dragging on the ground behind him. In the distance a man was running after him, “Grab his leash!” the stranger yelled at Ren. The dog calmly walked up to Ren, and sat at his feet. He started barking at Ren’s bag, Morgana hissed in retaliation. “Stupid dog! Don’t make me come down there!” he continued to hiss as Ren bent down and picked up the end of the dogs leash, and the dog reached up and licked his face as he did so. The man came up and took the leash from Ren’s hand. “Thank you” he said, turning his attention back to the dog, squatting down to look it eye to eye. “The vet says your joints hurt in your old age, but I see you disagree, isn’t that right Koromaru?” Ren looked closer and saw the man squatting in front of him wasn’t quite a man, his age appearing to be similar to his own. He was dressed well, not quiet formal, but more so than necessary to walk a dog. He stood up and looked back toward Ren, extending his hand. “My name is Ken Amada, and this is Koromaru, thank you for grabbing his leash. He saw a fox at the shrine back there and took off after it. He wouldn’t have gotten very far, but I don’t want him getting in any trouble.” Ren grabbed his hand and shook it “Ren Amamiya” he said. “Thank you again Ren, but I need to hurry and return to my friends, were expecting important guests. It was nice meeting you.” Ken said as he started walking the old dog past Ren. It looked back and barked towards Ren again, then continued trotting along, without a care in the world. Ren watched the boy leave until Morgana popped up out of the bag again. “You stupid dog, you dare bark at me? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!” he yelled after him. Ren tried to suppress a smile as Morgana yelled more and more at the dog that was getting further and further away. Ren continued walking, and as the streets became more populated he overheard some of the conversations around him. “Did you hear about the genius in town? I heard he just won a national math contest!” “I was thinking of getting the Mega Beef Bowl, but I don’t think I have enough courage” “Two limos in one day? The last time we even had one was years ago.” “I sure hope Risette comes back soon. You think she will sign my body pillow of her?” A small girl in pig tails and a simple dress skipped past Ren holding a bag that said “JUNES” and humming a catchy tune. Ren smiled. The atmosphere of the town was nothing like the city, and Ren and Morgana were both enjoying the change of pace. At the next intersection he looked back down at the map. This was the place where the map changed from Yusuke work to Ryuji’s. Ren frowned. He took out his cellphone. Still no signal. “When we finally get to Ryuji he is so dead” Morgana said, frustrated at their predicament. “Hey you, you’re lost, aren’t you?” Ren turned to see a young police woman approaching him.
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The young police officer ran up to Ren, waving her hands above her, as Morgana dove in Ren’s school bag. “You’re not from around here are you?” she asked. Ren quickly scanned the women. She seemed fairly young to be a police officer, with short brown hair ending around her neck. She had a small pin that said “Satonaka” on her chest, most likely indicating her name. Ren quickly nodded in response. “I thought so. You learn pretty quick how to spot a tourist working in this town. Oh is that a map? Let me see if I can help you find what you’re looking for” the women said, leaning over to see the map Ren was holding. She scanned the map, a puzzled look on her face. As soon as she saw the circled destination her eyes lit up. “The Amagi Inn!” she said, almost jumping in place. “I’m heading over there myself. How about I show you the way?” Ren nodded. The officer grabbed Ren’s arm and pulled him forward, Morgana yelping in surprise at the sudden movement. She suddenly stopped “Did you just hear a cat?” she looked around as Ren stared at Morgana in the bag, whose eyes were pleading sorry. She eventually gave a little shrug and continued rushing forward. She led Ren by his shirt cuff through the twisty streets, constantly looking back and asking him questions, never waiting for his answer. “Where are you from?” “What school do you go to?” “What are you doing here?” By the time she stopped Ren’s head was spinning, unable to comprehend everything he had been asked. When he finally regained his sense’s he realized there was no place that looked like an inn nearby. They were in front of an open food court, tables and chairs placed everywhere. Off to the side was a large mall like building with the large orange letters “JUNES” on the side. A short distance in front of him Officer Satonaka was walking over to a table with two people sitting at it. One, his back turned to both Ren and the women, had his face stuck in a book. The other sat opposite of him sipping absent mindedly at a drink. Morgana suddenly stuck his head out of the bag, dizzy after Officer Satonaka’s twisty race through town. As the officer snuck closer to the table the boy facing her stood up and waved. She held out a finger in front of her mouth and hushed him. He put both hands over his mouth, suppressing a giggle, and sat down, pretending to acting as if nothing was wrong. The other person payed no attention to the suspicious behavior in front of him. As soon as Officer Satonaka was within striking distance, she formed her hand into a knife and brought it down on the back of her unware victim’s head. His face flew forward and crashed into the book he had been reading. Officer Satonaka and the other person at the table clutched their chests laughing as the man got up and started yelling at her. Morgana let out a sharp laugh, having watched the entire thing unfold. After he had stopped yelling at her, and Officer Satonaka stopped laughing, she led the other two over to Ren. “Sorry about this” she said “I forgot I was supposed to get these two before I headed to the inn. I hope you don’t mind the detour.” “You could have done that without hitting me you meat head!” The guy who had been hit spit out, glaring daggers in her direction. “Well maybe if you stopped calling me meat head, I would stop, but we will never know will we?” she shouted back. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, and sighed. He was simply dressed: a green t-shirt and jeans, with a wireless headset draped around his neck. He put his glasses back on and put out his hand. “Just try to ignore her, its the only way to deal with her." He said, she made a grumpy face, and was about to say something but he kept talking. "I’m Yosuke Hanamura, nice to meet ya.” Ren grabbed his hand and shook it “Ren Amamiya” he said. “Wow I thought you didn’t talk, you were so quiet the whole way here” Officer Satonaka interjected. Yosuke ignored her and continued. “And this kid” he gestured to the empty spot next to him, “is Teddie.”
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Both Ren and Officer Satonaka stared at the empty space while Yosuke continued. “Well come on say something bud!” Yosuke said swatting the place he thought Teddie was. His eyes widened in shock as his hand hit air. “This bag smells beary suspicious” a voice said from behind Ren causing him to jump in surprise. The young blonde boy had circled around Ren and was sniffing the bag that contained Morgana. He wore a more formal white top covered by an apron and black dress pants. His bright blue eyes stared curiously at the bag under Ren’s arm. Ren started to sweat under his questioning gaze, preparing excuses in case the bag was searched and Morgana was discovered. Teddie stared him in the eyes and then suddenly jumped on Ren, wrapping him in a hug. “It’s beary nice to meet you, lets be friends, ok?” Yosuke ran over and pried the young boy off Ren. “What have I told you about grabbing random people!” He started to lecture Teddie. “You’re the representative of this store, you cant just go grabbing every person you meet you’ll cause way to many misunderstandings! Are you trying to get sued?” “But he’s not a girl…” Teddie tried to protest. Officer Satonaka walked up to Ren as Yosuke continued to lecture Teddie. “Sorry about that, he’s a bit… stupid sometimes, actually they both can be.” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair that only my friends get to introduce themselves. I’m Chie, Chie Satonaka. I may be a police officer but you can just call me Chie.” Ren nodded and sighed in relief, the mystery of his bag being forgotten in Teddies antics. Chie watched the two squabble for a bit and then sighed, walked up and hit both of them on the head. “You guys are acting like fools in front of our guest! We representative the town now, so act like it!” They both quickly stopped their squabble, saluted, and gave a loud “yes ma’am!” “We are already late so march!” she ordered them, both of them turning and doing so quickly. “Oh I do love it when Chie-chan is forceful! Especially when she wears the police uniform! Isn’t that right Yosuke? Oh wait you’d prefer her in a nurse outfit…” Teddie said. “Shut up you damn horn dog… bear whatever!” Yosuke yelled at the boy. Chie, seemingly not having heard the exchange, motioned for Ren to follow her, though he kept a bit of distance to avoid being associated with the strange brigade in front of him. Morgana stuck his head back out of the bag, enjoying the antics of the group in front of him while Ren took in the sights of the beautiful, quite town. They continued following the other three in silence except for the occasional “March!” shouted by Chie to the two boys. Eventually Yosuke slipped out from Chie’s eyes, falling back to walk next to Ren. “So you’re clearly not from around here. What brings you to our tiny town?” he asked. His posture had relaxed, his hands were behind his head holding the book he had been reading earlier. Ren noticed its title “Advanced Business Management” as Yosuke looked up at the sun, clearly enjoying its warmth on his face. “My friends won a trip to Amagi inn. It’s our last get together before our Senpai’s head to college.” Yosuke smiled and continued to stare at the sky. “Yea high school… those were the days. Hanging out with friend’s after school. Doing stupid stuff together. It’s funny… I know we have so much more ahead of us, but I feel like it just won’t be the same you know? Everyone has their own life now, their own path… I kind of miss the days when we all just had one goal we worked toward as a team…” he trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. Ren picked up that he seemed wiser than his carefree demeanor suggested, as if he had been through more than he was showing on the surface. Ren felt a pang of empathy for the guy, his words echoed his own fears for the future of the Phantom Thieves, and his friends. They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own past and future. “We’re here!” Chie suddenly yelled. In front of them was a large brown building, stretching far too each side and going back far out of sight. Ren and Yosuke walked up to the gate where Chie and a winded Teddie were waiting. Teddie started yelling at Yosuke for abandoning him, but Ren payed no attention to them as he entered the impressive building. Inside on the hardwood floors were a few benches, plants, and a vending machine. Directly ahead of them was a counter with a single figure behind it. Even from a distance here features were striking, long black hair and a bright pink Kimono stood out in the relative plain browns of the building. Chie and Teddie both ran up to the desk, making a huge disturbance in the otherwise silent hotel. Yosuke smiled at the girl who smiled back before being tackled by the other two, the whole lot of them smiling, giggling, and hugging. Yosuke turned to Ren. “Looks like here is where we part ways. You don’t really talk much, but you seem like a pretty decent guy. A lot like my best friend.” He held out his fist. Ren pounded it and Yosuke smiled. “Hey about what I mentioned earlier… don’t worry about it yet. Just make sure you will be able to look back at these times with a smile on your face. That’s what’s important for you right now.” Ren nodded. The lady at the desk, upon seeing Ren, ushered her friends to the right. They went, looking back and waving at Ren as they turned the corner out of sight. The lady cleared her throat, bowed, and said “Welcome to Amagi inn. How may I assist you today?”
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Upon seeing her up close her features were clearly more than striking, she was gorgeous. Morgana looked out a small hole in the bag at the beautiful women. He was lost in her beauty until he shook his head. He knew where his loyalty lied. Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out the inn voucher he was sent. Suddenly, a loud “thud” came from the counter and the lady glanced worried under the desk. “Fuuka are you ok?” she asked as another women stood up behind the desk. She wore a thin white dress, a necklace with a single greenish pearl on it and had her long green hair in a long single braid that ran down her back. She muttered out a “yea” rubbing her head the whole time. “The computer should be working now Yukiko.” “Thank you” the women called Yukiko replied “We should have some ice in the back. I can go get it for you.” Yukiko said. “Don’t worry about me, I can get it myself” Fuuka said “just take care of the customer.” She gave a small bow to Yukiko and Ren, then quickly left through a door behind the desk. Yukiko smiled apologetically. “I apologize for that, how may I help you?” Ren hand her the inn voucher, and her eye’s widened a bit. “I see…” she muttered under her breath. “If you would follow me, your friends have already arrived.” Ren nodded and followed Yukiko as she exited from behind the desk and lead him to the left. After a brief walk Yukiko stopped by a door. She stopped and bowed to Ren. “Your friends are here. If you need anything else I will be at the front desk.” Yukiko then headed back down the hallway towards the front desk. Ren stood in front of the door, the faint sound of an argument could be heard from behind the door. Morgana stuck his head back out of the bag. “Yep that’s them in there” he said. Ren opened the door, and was met with the shouting of the Phantom Thieves. The room was quite simple, there was a door on each side of the room, and a glass door opening out to a small patio across from the door. In the middle was a low table, where Ryuji stood opposite Ann, both arguing loudly and gesturing wildly. Yusuke stood to the side, hand on chin, admiring a painting of flowers hanging on the wall. Haru, Makoto, and Futaba were nowhere to be seen. Over the arguing no one noticed Ren open the door. He and Morgana both sighed as he stepped in the room. As he put his foot over the threshold it connected with something, he was already mid-step so he was unable to stop. He managed to look down and see that he had tripped over Futaba, who had been playing a game, her back against the door, headphones blocking out the noise of the arguing and the door opening. He tumbled over Futaba with a large crash, grabbing the attention of the rest of the room. Everyone turned to the door and saw Futaba and Ren lying in a pile, Morgana stood a bit away having managed to jump out of his bag before Ren hit the floor. All three people in the room yelled “REN!” and ran over to where he was picking himself up off the floor. After Ren had stood up he reached down to the confused Futaba and offered her his hand. She looked up and saw him, her eyes lighting up in joy. Instead of grabbing his hand she jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him a hug, yelling “You’re here!” All 4 of them burst into greetings, questions, and pats on the back. “It is good to see you” “What have you been up too” “Have you watched the anime I recommended you?” Suddenly the door on the right of the room opened and Haru and Makoto walked out, curious of the loud disturbance. They both saw Ren, who gave a small wave in the midst of the people surrounding him, and both ran over joining in the chaos surrounding him. Eventually they all calmed down a bit and stepped back, Ren breathing a breath of relief at being able to regain his personal space. Still amidst the barrage of their questions, Ren managed to herd all of them to the table and sit down. Morgana jumped up on the table to join them. “Quiet!” he meowed, gaining the attention of all the Phantom Thieves. “You all have gone on and on about Ren, what about me! No one even said ‘hi to me!”
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“Course not! No one would miss an annoying cat like you!” Ryuji mocked Morgana. Morgana, already upset at having been tossed around in a bag all day, turned and jumped at Ryuji. Morgana threw his whole body with all the force his tiny cat body could muster and hit Ryuji square in the face. He fell backwards with a loud “Ack!” Everyone laughed. After a few seconds of tumbling Morgana jumped off from where he was standing on Ryuji’s face and returned to his position at the table. Ryuji sat up and glared at the cat. “Man, I can’t believe I could miss you, you stupid fur ball” Ryuji said. Morgana let out a huff. “Well nobody missed you stupid!” Morgana yelled back. “What was that?!” As the two friends bickered the rest of the group shifted to talked between themselves. “I’m so glad nothing has changed” Haru chuckled, looking at the two. “Sometimes I look at those two and wish it did” Ann said. “Despite how much they argue they are good friends, but even I sometimes struggle to see that” Yusuke said, shaking his head. “I’m surprised we haven’t got a noise complaint by the other guests” Makoto said. “Then again I didn’t see any other guests when we came in. For such a popular inn you think the place would be packed.” “It is tourist season” Haru chimed in “I wonder if we missed an event happening in town today.” “Oh I heard they are shooting a new Featherman here! I wonder if it’s that? Or maybe it’s a government conspiracy!” Futaba added. Before Futaba went on Morgana walked up to Ann and did a small cat bow. “It is a pleasure to see you Lady Ann!” Morgana started, Ann’s face twisting to a mesh of disgust and horror in anticipation of what she was about to hear. “Oh how I have longed for you! Your overwhelming beauty which is feast for the eyes. Your delicate fragrance that warms my heart. Your… MREOW!” Morgana was interrupted by Futaba picking him up, placing him in her lap, and petting him over his protest to allow him to finish his greeting. Ann sighed and mouthed Futaba a silent thank you. “Ren how was your ride, we only arrived a bit ago.” Makoto asked. “Yea we got to ride in Haru’s limo, it was awesome! It’s like we were celebrities or something!” Ryuji butted in. “You all rode in a limo?” Morgana asked in surprise. “It was pretty awesome! There was so much room to stretch out, nothing like the packed subway.” “It was quiet luxurious” Yusuke added. “There was enough food there to last a week.” “Pretty sure those were just some crackers to snack on.” Ann responded to Yusuke comment. “What!” Morgana burst out. “We had to ride a train and I had to stay in my bad the whole time, while you all got to ride a limo?!” Morgana asked upset. Ignoring is whining, Makoto turned to Haru “Thank you for letting us ride with you Haru.” “No need to thank me” she replied. “It was enjoyable sharing the limo with you all” she smiled. Morgana, having calmed down from his temper tantrum, remembered the arguing when he came in. “What were you guys arguing about earlier?” he asked Ryuji and Ann. “They were trying to decide who gets what room.” Futaba said. “Well obviously the guys should get the bigger room!” Ryuji immediately said. “What? Why? There are more girls than guys!” Ann shouted back. “No there aren’t! It’s the same amount for both sides!” Ryuji yelled back. “We got me, Yusuke, Ren, and Morgana!” “Morgana doesn’t count, he’s a cat!” The cat in question sat up, upset at being called a cat, when Futaba’s started to chuckle nefariously. Everyone turned towards her “I know the real reason why Ryuji wants the bigger room.” She paused for tension, Ryuji gulped nervously. “It’s got a hole in the wall that looks right into the girl’s bathhouse.” Haru, Ann, and Makoto turned to face Ryuji, murder in their eyes. “Wh-Wh that ain’t true!” I don’t know about any friggen hole!” He stammered, sweat running down his face, distraught clear to see as the three girls got up and started walking over to him. Ren sighed, his relaxing vacation with his friends was not off to a very relaxing start. Suddenly the door to the room flew open. Two big men in black suits, black ties, and black glasses stepped in, standing on each side of the doorway. Two more men in suits appeared outside the glass doors. “What the F is going on” Ryuji spat out, standing up to face the men. Futaba grabbed the edge of Ren’s clothing and huddled behind him “Oh I hate it when I’m right” she muttered. Yusuke looked back and forth between the two groups, eyes wide with surprise, but watching them all closely, making no suspicious movements. Makoto took a defensive stance, positioning herself between the men at the door at the group, Ann at her side. Haru faced the men at the back, Morgana between her feet hissing. Ren took a sharp breath in, realized this trip may be far less relaxing than he had ever thought. Through the door walked a beautiful red headed woman. “Wow…” Ryuji managed to get out as every person in the room stared at the women, her presence seeming to demand a person’s attention and her beauty keep it focused on her. She wore a simple black women’s dress, with black heels. Her red hair reached down her back with a single curly strand draped over her shoulder. “Greetings Phantom Thieves” she said.
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Her words cut like ice through the Phantom Thieves. Ren’s eyes darted around the room, looking for any possible way to escape the situation. “Please don’t worry I mean you no harm” She said to the anxious Phantom Thieves. “Kinda hard to believe that with all these big dudes threatening us!” Ryuji yelled back. The guards looked at the woman who nodded, the ones at the door stepped outside, closing the door behind them, and he ones in the window vanished from view. Suddenly Haru let out a gasp “You’re Mitsuru Kirijo.” Ann looked over at Haru. “You know her?” “Yes” she nodded. “We meet briefly at a one of my father’s business parties, but I could never forget such an amazing woman.” “She is indeed amazing” Ryuji said, eyes nearly popping out of his head staring at the gorgeous women. “Kirijo?” Futaba wondered aloud. “Wait a second Mitsuru Kirijo? As in the leader of the Kirijo Group? The richest women in Japan?” Futaba went on. “Indeed” Mitsuru nodded in response. “It is a pleasure to meet you again Haru Okumura, as well as your friends: Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Nijima, Futaba Sakura, and Ren Amamiya” she said turning to face each respective person as she said their name. Everyone tensed again, understanding that an outsider knew the identity’s of all the Phantom Thieves. Ren, figuring there was no point in trying to hide their identities or play dumb with the women, stood up from where he was sitting. “What do you want with us?” he asked. Mitsuru sighed. “I would prefer not to involve children again, but it seems we have no choice. The world is in great danger, and we need every persona user we can find.” “Wait you know about personas?” Ann asked. Mitsuru nodded. “You aren’t the first group of children to use them to save the world. I was part of a group that did so back when we were in high school.” The Phantom Thieves looked at each other in shock. “So we aren’t special?” Futaba asked, peeking from her hiding spot behind Ren, disappointment in her voice. “Not to worry you are all indeed quiet special. There are only a handful of persona users in the world. And only two others like you, Ren Amamiya.” Mitsuru responded, turning to face him. “Your wildcard ability’s adaptability, versatility, and sheer power was of great use in your fight against the shadow’s I’m sure.” “How do you know so much about us?” Yusuke asked. “After I founded the Shadow Operatives we have always kept tabs on potential members.” “The hell are the Shadow Operatives?” Ryuji cut in. “It is a group of elite persona users who travel the world protecting mankind from threats they are unable to see.” Mitsuru responded. “Whoaa… Awesome! Where do I sign up?” Ryuji’s eyes lit up, clearly infatuated with the cool sounding group he had only heard a single sentience about. Morgana walked defiantly up to Mitsuru and shouted at her “And what do they want with us huh?” Mitsuru smiled down at the cat, ignoring his question. “Hey I’m talking to you! Hey!” he went on. “She can’t hear you Morgana” Futaba piped up. Mitsuru tilted her head. “Morgana? Ah the cat. You all showed a great fondness for it, bringing it everywhere you went.” “I’m not just a cat! I’m a Phantom Thief too!” Morgana said, almost hissing at Mitsuru. “He’s not just a cat, he’s a Phantom Thief too.” Haru translated for Mitsuru. She looked puzzled for a second and then seemed to accept it. Before she could continue explaining about the Shadow Operatives, and why the Phantom thieves had called here, the door opened behind her. “Mitsuru!” a grey haired man holding a sword stood in the door way called out. He was not that much older than the Phantom Thief’s himself. He wore a white button down under an open black blazer. “Yasogami High School Alum” was printed on the front pocket, along with what seemed to be the school symbol. Mitsuru turned to face the sudden guest. “Rise sensed something. She said it’s headed here. Now.” The guest said slightly out of breath. Everyone stood up surprised, Mitsuru gritted her teeth. “Damn!” she said. “You kids! Stay close to me! Keep your eyes open, we have no idea what’s…” Mitsuru stopped as she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A black-purple fog started to poor out of the cracks between the ceiling and walls. “Outside now!” she ordered. No one hesitated as Ren, and the guest burst through the glass door leading to outside, everyone following through the broken glass behind them. “Where-Where exactly are we?” Makoto asked, her voice shaking.
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In front of the group was a long gravel path, stretching further than the eye could see. All around them were stars, illuminating their path, and creating the illusion that they were in space. The inn they had just been in was gone, replaced with a large no exit sign behind them. Only the broken glass of the window remained, mixed with the gravel beneath their feet. “This doesn’t look like Inaba” Ann tried to joke, grabbing her arm with a small nervous laugh. Mitsuru, the guest, and Ren were the only one’s unfazed, calmly taking in their surroundings. A voice seemingly coming from nowhere interrupted everyone. “Welcome guinea pigs. Today I will be running some tests to see if you are worthy. Worthy how you may ask? That is for me to know and you to not find out.” The voice laughed then quickly cut out to silence. The absolute silence of the place bothered those not in deep thought about the current events. “The eff was that?” Ryuji finally asked aloud. “I have no idea” muttered Mitsuru, still deep in thought. “The stars here are quiet beautiful. Such a beautiful landscape would make a perfect subject for a painting” Yusuke said. Everyone looked at him and chuckled, his failure to grasp the seriousness of their situation helping to dissolve the tension. He looked back at them confused. “Shouldn’t you be a bit more worried about what’s going on Yusuke?” Makoto asked. “No” he responded. “I believe that no matter what lies ahead we will be able to handle it as long as we are together.” The phantom thieves all looked at Ren. “Well duh.” Morgana meowed. “Of course” said Haru. “I believe in us and that’s what counts!” Futaba, standing close to Ren again, said. The guest chuckled. “You got a problem with us pal?!” Ryuji yelled at the man. He shook his head. “No, it’s just that you all remind me of my friends.” A deep admiration showed in his eyes. “I’m Yu Narukami. I figured I should introduce myself since were in this mess together.” “Yu got a weird name” Futaba said, cracking a smile at her own joke. “Me?” Yusuke said, clearly upset at the accusation. “No, no YU” Futaba emphasized. “I do?” Haru said, falling for the same wordplay Yusuke had. “Ugh no Yu, him Yu, not you, you” Futaba said frustrated pointing at Yu this time. “So you guys are the infamous Phantom Thieves” Yu finally said, interrupting the confusion. “When Mitsuru told me you all were high school persona users I didn’t believe her. Guess I was wrong.” As the Phantom Thieves introduced themselves to Yu, Mitsuru closed her eyes and focused. It had been a long time since she used her persona for scanning purposed but she could do it if she tried. Mitsuru suddenly opened her eyes. “There’s something in the distance. I can’t tell what it is through” she reported. “Futaba could you check for me?” she asked the girl. “R-right. Of course.” Futaba stammered out, and closed her eyes. “How did you know Futaba could sense things with her persona?” Makoto asked. “We have had plenty of eyes watch you. For one Futaba never carried a weapon during your time together. So we assumed that like the other persona user groups we have studied that she was a type of navigator” Mitsuru responded. “How long have you been spying on us?” Ann asked. “We were only able to confirm your use of persona’s after you had reformed Masayoshi Shido. We were unable to connect your usage of persona’s and reforming people until then. After which we used old security footage and messages to learn about you.” “So you don’t jump into people’s hearts with an app?” Ren asked. “No my friends and I scaled a large labyrinth like tower” Mitsuru responded. “And my friends and I jumped into T.Vs’ and investigated a series of murders happing inside them” Yu added in. “Jumped into T.V’s?” Yusuke questioned. “Wouldn’t that simply brake the T.V. not to mention cause physical harm to oneself?” “Being a thief is way cooler than both of those.” Morgana chimed in, Ryuji nodding enthusiastically in agreement. “While that may be the case we respect our elders” Haru said to the grinning duo. “Yea especially ones that saved the world for us” Ann added. “I found him!” Futaba chimed in. “There’s an older man ahead. He’s got an eyepatch and…” “Futaba your cloths!” Morgana interrupted.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Futaba stood there in her Phantom Thief cyber suit. She looked down, saw what she was wearing and squealed, crouching down and trying to cover her body as much as possible. “This is so embarrassing” she said. “Why?” asked Yusuke. “When the rest of you were in costume with me I would just pretend we were all cosplaying together and I was fine” she replied. “But if I’m the only one in it, it just feels embarrassing.” “But you look quiet appealing in the suit, it highlights all of your womanly charm. Perhaps one day I can have both you and Ann pose for a nude painting…” Ann smacked the back of Yusuke’s head while Futaba punched his knees. “Maybe using her persona in this place caused her thief costume to appear” Makoto guessed. “That means it must be part of the Metaverse…” she continued “But Morgana is still a cat….” “We can discuss the technicalities of this world later, right now we should focus on escaping it.” Yu cut in. “Indeed” Mitsuru said. “What were you saying about a man in an eye patch?” Futaba got up and hid behind Ren again. “That was it, I couldn’t see much more than that” she squeaked. “Someone you know Mitsuru?” Yu asked. “I’m not sure yet. Either way it seems we must move forward. Everyone behind me! Yu watch the rear, and Futaba tell us if you sense anything else. “Right!” the Phantom Thieves responded quickly following the orders of the veteran before them. Yu fell to the back, sword at his side, occasionally looking over his shoulder as they advanced forward. Ren and Futaba were right behind Mitsuru followed by the rest of the Phantom Thieves. The world around them was completely empty aside from the gravel pathway crunching beneath their feet and the stars illuminating the path. Silence plagued the group, as each was lost in their own thoughts, their environment offering no sound or visual stimulus to distract them or offer anything to talk about. Ryuji eventually walked up behind Ren and started whispering in his ear. “Hey can we trust these guys? I mean first they act like they know everything about us, then moments later were jumping out windows into space! Do we really trust them to take charge?” Ryuji asked exasperated. Suddenly Makoto caught up the pair and jumped in the conversation. “The main point of whispering is to do it quietly” Makoto informed Ryuji. “And I for one trust her. The responsibility to lead falls to those who have the gift, and she certainly has it.” “I can’t believe I am saying this, but I agree with Ryuji, I would feel a lot better with Ren leading us” Ann jumped into the discussion. “I believe we can trust her” Haru added. “When I meet her before she came across as very upstanding person. She has an outstanding reputation as well, so I think it’s safe to trust anyone she trust’s as well.” “These two also seem quite used to this. I am not against following their lead if it helps us escape this place” Yusuke said. “She does seem to have a better handle on this we do, and she’s strong as well. And that guy… he gives off the same vibes as you Ren.” Morgana stated. Ren nodded “I think we should continue following them. It has worked so far” he stated. “Well it’s settled then, if Ren thinks following them is for the best then we all will follow them” Futaba said, smiling from behind Ren. “Agreed” Yusuke nodded. Ryuji and Ann looked at each other, sighed, and accepted the decision of the group. Mitsuru suddenly stopped, and the whole group behind her came to a halt. Ahead of them a figure was visible in the distance. It started to walk toward the group, and as he got closer they were able to make out more of the man. He was very tall, and wore an eye patch, just as Futaba had described. He also wore a large coat, red tie, and black vest. His face was extremely bony and he had a very imposing aura about him. “Stop right there!” Mitsuru said. Yu, having come up from the back of the group, stood next to her, sword held at his side, ready. “Who are you?” Mitsuru questioned the figure. “Can’t you see Mitsuru, it’s me” the man said in a deep voice. Mitsuru reached inside her suit and produced a small, silver pistol which she held against her head. “My father is dead!” she shouted at the figure, pulling the trigger of the gun. “Persona!” she shouted. Above her appeared a floating women, clad in boisterous gold armor and a dark blue dress. She wore a red mask covering the top half of her face and held a whip at her side. “Artemisia” she yelled. Ice began forming at the figures feet, quickly creeping up to his waist. “I’ll ask you again, who are you?” she shouted at him. He flashed a large, creepy smile bearing all his teeth, looking over the group. “You pass” he said in the same voice they had heard earlier, his body going limp and morphing turning into a red putty. It slowly sunk to the ground and slipped down between the cracks in the gravel, disappearing. The group stood in silence as they waited for Mitsuru or Yu to explain what had just happened. Mitsuru looked at Yu, nodded and then walked forward.< “Hold on a second!” Futaba yelled out, causing the two of them to turn around and look at her. “Are you going to explain any of what just happened?” “Yea” Ryuji butted it. “She just shot herself in the head and then a giant whip lady showed up and that strange guy melted into the ground! Which was cool and all, but we feel pretty left out about what the F is going on here.” The rest of the Phantom Thieves nodded and mumbled agreement. Mitsuru and Yu looked at each other. “It’s a long story” Yu began.
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Yu and Mitsuru took turns explaining the different ways they summoned their personas, the fate of Mitsuru’s father, and the trials that both Yu and Mitsuru had been through as they continued walking on the seemingly endless road of pebbles before them. “I’m sorry for your loss” Haru said to Mitsuru. “Thank you” she nodded to Haru “And I am sorry for yours.” Amidst the cracks in the pebble floor a mist started to rise. Whispers could be heard, but not understood. The group ignored them, and continued to talk amongst themselves. “It is scary to think that the world has ended so many times without us ever knowing” Makoto said. “Indeed” Yusuke said. “I’m just glad I didn’t say anything to Mitsuru and get turned into an ice cube like that thing did” Ryuji said. “Shame. It's your only chance to cure your hotheadedness” Morgana muttered just loud enough for Ryuji to hear and start another feud between them. As the group went on the mist continued to rise slowly up to their waist, the whispers becoming louder now. They whispered rumors of each member of the group, only heard by the person they were directed towards. “You’re mother never loved you.” “You’re not good enough to lead in his place.” “She’s a lose girl.” “His mentor is a fraud, he must be too.” “Listen to me!” Yu shouted from the front of the group. “Don’t listen to the voices. They are tricks being played on you by the fog. Grab hold of the person in front of you and follow the path. It’s likely the fog will play more tricks on us, but don’t listen to its lies.” The members of the group all grabbed hold of each other, Morgana hanging close to Ren’s leg. The continued to walk on, the mist rising and the whispers becoming louder and more fervent in their verbal attacks. The mist rose to shoulder height, and Futaba was unable to see, only guided by the edge of the Ren’s shirt she desperately clutched. After a few more steps the fog completely covered all of them. Shouts from all sides bombarded the group. Futaba closed her eyes trying to block out the voices. Ann started muttering to herself. Makoto squeezed Yusuke and Haru’s hand even harder. Eventually figures started appearing to their left and right. “No, Shiho!” Ann yelled as the group jerked to one side as Ann tried to throw herself off the path, but stayed on thanks to being held on to by the people around her. As the voices reached a screaming in their ear’s, and figures surrounded them on each side Ryuji reached up to his face, itching to summon his persona to lash out at the torment around him. Suddenly the mist stopped, and the group emerged from it. They all felt a wave of exhaustion come over them, and Ryuji collapsed on the pebble path. “Man even track wasn’t this bad.” “You pass” the mysterious voice said, this time coming from somewhere inside mist behind them. The mist then slowly melted back into the pebbles behind them. “What’s going on here!” Morgana shouted towards the stars above them. “Show yourself!” There was no response. “This place is really starting to creep me out.” Ann said holding her arm again. “That mist” began Yusuke. “It was almost as if it read my heart and showed me that which I kept locked inside.” Yu nodded. “That is what it does. It was something my friends and I encountered. It surrounds you with lies that are hard to see through and then makes you confront the deepest truths of your heart. That combination usually brings people to the edge. I am impressed with how well you all handled it.” Makoto placed her hand on her chin. “First Mitsuru’s father, then fog from Yu’s adventure, and then there’s that strange voice telling us we passed. It seems like whoever is speaking to us is testing us, and it looks like were up next.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“What do you mean tested? Who in the world, or… in space, could be testing us in this wacky place?” Ann asked in disbelief. “Most likely whoever, or whatever, brought us here.” Said Makoto. “I think you may be right.” Mitsuru nodded. “Is there anything we should be wary of from your journey?” The phantom thieves all thought. “Not unless this place suddenly transforms into a huge ship or castle. But that’s out specialty, so just leave it to us!” Ryuji said enthusiastically. The rest of the phantom thieves nodded in agreement. “Why don’t you take the lead then.” Mitsuru said to Ren. Ryuji and Ann looked at each other, both excited and a bit relived. “We have no idea what is ahead but if it is somehow related to you, having you lead is the most logical course of action.” Yu nodded his agreement with Mitsuru's assessment. Ren, accepting the position, went to the front of the group, Futaba still close behind him, followed by the rest of the Phantom Thieves, and then Mitsuru and Yu. The group continued along now with Ren at their lead. The group stopped and let Futaba search ahead every so often and upon getting the all clear from her they continued onward. “You mentioned something about castles and ships?” Yu asked the Phantom Thieves. “Indeed” Yusuke said. “We would enter into those the hearts of those who had been corrupted and they would take the form of how they perceived the world.” Yu looked confused. “You mustn’t forget to mention the Metaverse navigator” Haru added. Yu looked even more confused. Before Yusuke and Haru could explain anything to Yu, Futaba suddenly ordered the group to halt. “There’s someone up ahead... two now there are 7 no 100.” The group stopped and waited for her report. She slid off her visor. “I lost count at over 100000.” “100000!” Ryuji exclaimed. “What are they?” Ann asked “I’m not sure.” Futaba replied. “I can’t even tell if there alive or dead, but they do feel familiar, yet I can’t put my finger on what about them though.” “It doesn’t seem like they are coming towards us, so we have no choice but to approach it” Yu stated. Mitsuru nodded. “Right, we can’t waste any more time here, let’s complete this “test” and move on. Ren you continue to lead, Futaba tell us if you recognize what those things are.” The group nodded and did as she said. As they continued on there seemed to be fewer and fewer starts as the path became darker and darker. The group began to walk in a straighter line as the path become narrower with less and less stones. Ahead, the group saw the figures Futaba had been talking about. They were scattered around on and off the path, standing around mindlessly. “Aren’t those…” Makoto trailed off. “The 'people' we saw in Mementos? Seems like it” Futaba answered Makoto’s question without her having even finished it. “Are they dangerous?” Mitsuru asked, a confused look plastered on her and Yu’s face. “About as dangerous as Ryuji academically” Morgana chimed in. The phantom thieves laughed while Mitsuru and Yu looked even more confused. Futaba wiped a tear from her eye. “No there not” she clarified for the two unware of Ryuji’s academic prowess. “Any idea what the “test” is with them is?” Yu asked glaring at the horde of mindless people. The Phantom Thieves thought but couldn’t come up with anything, shaking their heads in defeat with deep sighs. “We have no idea. Last time we encountered these things they were not a threat” Maktoto told them. As Mitsuru opened her mouth to ask another question a large “thud” was heard behind them. The group swiveled around and saw a giant open hand blocking the path behind them. “Well this is certainly new...” Ann said. Suddenly the hand started slowly moving towards them, sweeping the rock path underneath it. The surprised group turned around and started running towards the Mementos people. “But this certainly isn’t!” Ann cried out. “What are we going to do about that?” Ryuji asked, pointing at the group of Mementos people blocking the path. “Push them out of the way” Yu yelled reaching the group of Mementos people first. The group made their way through the crowd, pushing, weaving, and slipping between the people. The hand behind them caught up to the Mementos people, and without slowing down pushed them out of the way, continuing to approach the group. “Man how far do these guys go on? Ryuji yelled. “I can’t see the end of them” Yu yelled back from the front. Morgana suddenly perked up and started ahead, his eyes gleaming. “I sense treasure ahead!” he said. “Here?” Makoto asked in surprise. “No he’s right I feel it too.” Futaba yelled out. “Ren can you steal it?” Morgana asked, looking up at Ren from between his legs. “I can’t steal anything in this form, and I can’t seem to change into my other form now” He said. Ren nodded. “Yu we have a plan” Makoto yelled to the front. Yu looked back and nodded, letting Ren slip ahead of him to the front. The hand behind them was catching up, picking up speed with every person it knocked to the side or crushed. “The treasures coming up in 50 meters!” Futaba yelled. The crowd of people got denser and denser until run was almost a wall of people. “30 meters!” Futaba yelled.” “I would appreciate it if we could go just a bit faster” Haru said worriedly from the back of the group as the hand came closer. “10 meters!” Ren could see a different looking person ahead, he wasn’t moving just standing still, back turned. “4 meters!” Ren saw through the gaps of people a shimmer of gold in the back pocket of someone. The hand was almost on top of the group, only a single line of people separated it from them. “You’re on it!” Ren reached out for the gold object and grabbed it, pulling it towards him. The mementos people instantly stopped moving along with the hand. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief except for Ren. As he had been pulling back his hand the figure who he had stolen the gold from had whipped around and grabbed his hand.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Staring at Ren was the all too familiar face of Masayoshi Shido. Unlike the dead eyes of the mementos wanders his eyes were full of life. He smiled, baring all his teeth, as Mitsuru’s father had done before. He squeezed Ren’s arm harder, causing him to wince in pain, and pulled him closer. He opened his mouth and mouthed “you pass” though instead of the sound coming out of his mouth, it came out of all the mementos people mouth in the same mysterious voice as before. They all suddenly stood ridged and turned into the red putty, slipping down between the scattered pebbles that made up the barely visible path.
The group stood confused as to what had just happened. “Anyone wanna explain what the F is going on here?!” Ryuji said angrily. “I think we all want to know what is going on.” Yusuke said. “Hey what was the treasure?” Morgana asked staring up at Ren expectedly. Everyone gathered around Ren as he looked down and opened the hand he had been clenching shut. In the palm of his hand was a gold butterfly broach with blue highlights, possibly made of sapphire. Its wings had been broken off, possibly due to Ren’s clenching it so hard. The group stated at the almost life like broach until it too suddenly turned to red putty and fell away.
Before the group had time to react the voice appeared above them again. “I see. It is through the strength of your bonds with others that you are able to achieve such feats. Individually you all are powerless, but together you have the potential to realign the course of the future.” “Yea so? What about it?” Yu called out to the sky.
Suddenly red putty rose from the all over the ground. “It means that you have not truly passed my test” the voice seemed to say from everywhere at once. The red putty consolidated into one large floating orb. Everyone stood at the ready waiting for the blob do something. The blob span in place, gaining speed, as the voice asked them “Do you understand where you are?”
Before the group had time to think the voice answered its own question. “You stand in the dregs of humanity’s conscious. You stand on the bodies of your forgotten brethren, you’re path illuminated by their burning hatred for the very world you protect.” The putty started to fluctuate on its surface and began to take shape. “You have not satisfied them. Not changed them.” The putty finally took shape, morphing into a several stories tall mask, eyes closed, it hovered in front of the group. “Your persona’s are masks you use to protect yourselves from the horror of the world you have helped create. This is the mask humanity itself wears, to protect themselves from their own true nature they refuse to see. A nature of evil. A nature of sin.”
With those words the mask opened its eyes, revealing two empty holes. The pebbles making up the path started to vibrate. They slowly started to float in the air, causing the group to be surrounded by thousands of small rocks. “This looks quite troublesome” Mitsuru muttered under her breath.
Suddenly the rocks flew towards the mask, straight into its open mouth. Recognizing the danger of the speeding rocks akin to bullets, Yu quickly held out his hand. A blue tarot card appeared and he crushed it in his fist, yelling “Izanagi!” at the same time. Behind Yu a figure wearing a metal mask and long black coat appeared. He quickly raised his weapon, a knife on the end of a long stick, and quickly spun it in a circle in front of him, grinding the pebbles to a dust before they reached the group.
“Hit it with everything you got!” Yu yelled back to the rest of the group. Everyone nodded. On their faces their masks appeared. The Phantom Thieves all grabbed them and ripped them off their face, blood spattering on the ground in front of them. The Phantom Thieves all stood in their thief attire, Persona’s behind them. Ren held out his hand, Arsene flew out and put his hands on the ground, a burst of darkness exploding below the mask. This explosion was followed by the other Phantom Thieves as their personas threw out their strongest attacks at the mask.
“All right!” Ryuji yelled, smoke and dust surrounding the mask. “Let’s finish him with an all-out attack!” Makoto said. The Phantom Thieves nodded in agreement and dashed at the mask, darting in and out of the smoke, slicing, stabbing, and bashing the mask.
The Phantom Thieves jumped back, waiting for the dust to settle to see the damage they had done. As the dust cleared the mask appeared to have not even a single scratch on it. “No way? We didn’t do anything?” Ann said in disbelief. “You guys haven’t even scratched that thing! It’s to strong! We aren’t a high enough level to challenge a post-game boss like that!” Futaba yelled. “Now’s not the time to bicker!” Yu said from behind them. He was clearly getting tired, and seemed out of practice using his persona.
In front of them the mask’s cheeks puffed up. “It seems like it is going to attack” Yusuke said. “We know, have eyes Yusuke!” Morgana yelled back. “Fighting among ourselves won’t solve anything” Haru said. The mask opened its mouth and shot more pebbles at break neck speed at the group. Mitsuru took out her evoker and put it to her head, yelling “Persona!” Her persona appeared and went between the mask and the group, swinging its whip and deflecting the rocks.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Phantom Thieves were now pinned between Yu deflecting the rocks from the back, and Mitsuru deflecting the rocks from the front. “This… has turned into a difficult situation” Haru said. “Does anyone have any ideas?” Makoto asked the group. Suddenly one of the rocks slipped past Yu’s defense and rocketed into the ground next to the group. “Making it out alive seems like a pretty good idea!” Morgana meowed.
“Do you truly believe that you can stand up to the combined evil of all humanity? You are all just flawed beings you never…” the voice above them started. “Hey could you pipe down were trying to think of a plan here!” Ryuji yelled at the sky, cutting the voice off. “Hey wait… what is that?” Ryuji asked looking up at the sky. The phantom thieves all looked up. After trying to find what Ryuji was pointing at Yusuke stuck out his hand and pointed. “Up there. Is that a glowing blue butterfly?” The rest of the group looked at what he was pointing at and saw far above them, was a glowing blue butterfly.
“Does it help out current situation?” Mitsuru asked, struggling to keep up with the onslaught of rocks being thrown at her. “I don’t see how a butterfly could help us…” Makoto started until her attention was drawn to Ren’s palm. “REN!” she called out.
Ren looked down and in his hand the broken broach was glowing the same blue as the butterfly above them. Suddenly it flashed and the group was enveloped in blue. They were no longer standing but more so floating. There personas were gone as well as their phantom suits. Ren could see the others mouths moving, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. “I would have come sooner but you damaged the tracker.” A calming voice said in Ren’s head. “I am on your side but you must be careful. You are fighting a powerful enemy. This will be the only time I can and will interfere. Just remember that humanity always has more potential. Utilize it.” With that the floating sensation changed to a falling sensation. Suddenly it stopped. And the blue around them gave away. They were back in the original room they had come from and the window they had jumped though wasn’t even broken. Both Ren and Yu noticed a small blue butterfly on the other side of the window fly away. Everyone stood around, unsure of exactly what just happened. “Ummm I wasn’t the only one who just a weird day dream? Right?” Ann. “Definitely not. We all went to that wacked out place” Morgana said, hanging his head. Mitsuru and Yu jumped back, staring at the cat. “You can talk?!” They both said in unison. “Yea that’s what we’ve been telling you the whole time!” Ryuji said. Makoto put her hand on her chin. “It must have been because they saw Morgan’s mementos form and heard him speak.” “Are we just going to pretend nothing happened or are we going to talk about it?” Ann asked.
Mitsuru nodded “We need to gather the others and discussed what just transpired. It may have happened to the others as well. We need to regroup.” “Others? How many more persona users are there?” Haru asked.
A voice suddenly echoed in the hallway. “Mitsuru! Yu!” it repeatedly called, gaining volume and intensity as it seemed to be approaching them out in the hallway. Yu walked over to the door when it suddenly flew open. In the doorway stood a well-toned man covered in blood. He wore a backwards baseball cap, held a baseball bat, a small cross around his neck, and a baseball jersey whose number was obscured by blood.
“There you two are! We’ve been looking everywhere for you two!” “Junpei!” Mitsuru called out, distress in her voice. “You’re hurt!” “No, no” he replied “it’s not my blood... it’s a long story. Listen Chie’s hurt...” Ren perked up at hearing the familiar name. Before he could ask anything Yu rushed out the door running down the hallway. “He’s in room next to the bathhouse!” Junpei called after him.
Junpei turned back towards the group. “So uhh who are the new guys? More persona users?” he asked Mitsuru. “Indeed” Mitsuru nodded, “they are the Phantom Thieves.” The Phantom Thieves winced at again losing more secrecy, but seemed to now accept it was part of being here. “Oh cool cool the Phantom Thieves... wait did you say the Phantom Thieves? Like THE Phantom Thieves? No way, I bought their merch and now you’re telling me that THE Phantom Thieves are KIDS!?” Junpei said, astonished. “Yes, but more importantly we need to get you cleaned up, walking around covered in blood is going to set everyone on edge” Mitsuru said. Junpei nodded, eyeing over the group in shock, never thinking he would be lucky enough to meet such a famous group in person.
“Fill me in on what’s happened” Mitsuru said leaving the room with Junpei. She turned to the Phantom Thieves “you kids stay here I’ll send someone to debrief you” Mitsuru said, closing door behind her. The group stood awkwardly around the table they had been arguing at earlier. It seemed like such a petty argument now. “So am I the only one totally lost on whats going on?” Ann asked filling the awkward silence.
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“Yes, we do seem to have gotten caught up in quite the situation” Yusuke said. “Yea, I can’t think of a time that happened before.” Ryuji responded sarcastically. “It’s not like we aren’t used to it” Haru said defeated. Morgana walked up to Ren. “That guy, Junpei, he mentioned that Chie got hurt. Do you think that was officer we met?” Morgana said, looking down at the floor. Ren nodded. “Chie? Is that someone you know?” Haru asked Ren and Morgana. “Yes. She was the officer who escorted us here” Ren answered. “I’m sure she’ll be fine” Makoto answered. “Yu’s friends sounded pretty resilient.” “Yea she did seem like a pretty tough cookie” Morgana answered. “Hold on a second, does that mean the other two people with her were also Yu’s friends as well? Yosuke and Teddie? You think they are persona users too?” Morgana asked. “I would assume so” Ren answered. “No way! Really?” Morgana said in surprise. “I never would have guessed.” “Man just how many more are there? I can’t keep all these new names straight” Ryuji exclaimed. “Are you guys going to continue your pointless babble or can we discus just what is going on?” Futaba asked. “I don’t think any of us know anything at all” Haru said. “Yea we already established that” Ryuji teased. Futaba chuckled to herself. “That’s where you’re wrong. Look at my watch.” Everyone got closer to Futaba as she rolled up her sleeve to reveal an expensive looking digital watch. “Are you just trying to flex on us or something” Ryuji asked, frustrated at Futaba’s clout. “What? No! Sojiro gave this to me as a present for signing up for high school. Anyway that’s not the point. See how it only says 1:32? Check your phone clocks.” Everyone one pulled out their phone’s and gasped. “Mine says 3:48. Is your watch already broken? Yusuke asked. “No, no. Since its digital it was keeping a constant pace even in that strage place, while your phone updated it’s clock from the satellites as soon as it connect. Which leaves only one explanation.” “Time flows at a different speed in that place than it does here. Interesting” Makoto concluded. “Bing-Bing-Bing correct!” Futaba said. “Since the window wasn’t broken when we got back, and from what Junpei said our bodies weren’t physically here when they were looking for us, it appears likely we were in another dimension.” “Whhhattt?” Ann gasped. “A separate DIMENSION?! No friggen way! This isn’t some strange video game Futaba!” Ryuji outburst. “That does seem like a very far jump, do you have any other evidence to support that claim?” Yusuke said. “Of course” Futaba nodded. “We were able to summon our personas and our Phantom Thief costumes appeared. We were only able to do those two things in palaces and Mementos, which was also a separate dimension.” Futaba added. “It was?” Ann asked in surprise. “Yes they were” Makoto said, siding with Futaba. “Those were places that altered the physical laws of the world we were familiar with, that in definition is an alternate dimension” she concluded, Futaba puffed out her chest with bravado. “It does start to make sense when you put it that way” Ryuji said, Haru and Yusuke nodded along with him. Ann leaned over to Ryuji. “You understood that?” she asked. “Nope not a word” he whispered back. They both looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to keep their mutual misunderstanding from the group and rolled with what they were saying. “If we were able to use our personas and Morgana could change forms it suggests that not only is it a separate dimension, but one linked to palaces and mementos.” Makoto went on. “But Yu and Mitsuru could also summon their persona’s, so is it really related to just mementos? Is it also related to the Dark hour and Midnight Channel that Yu and Mitsuru mentioned?” Haru asked. “It would appear to be some combination of all of them” Makoto responded. “Or maybe that was the place that connects them all” she went on “maybe that’s where they all came from.” “What about the voice though? It was definitely trying to mess with our heads and whatnot!” Ryuji asked. “It mentioned something about the ‘dregs of humanity.’ It could be another manifestation of humanity’s desire” Yusuke said. Futaba rubbed her head in frustration “Uhhhg we just have too little information to work with!” she said frustrated.
“Well whatever or wherever that place was it the voice there want’s to end the world” Morgana said. “So we have to save the world again?” Ann whined “wasn’t once enough?” “Mitsuru will likely ask us to help her, we need to decide if we will.” Ren said. “Of course!” Futaba said jumping up. “Saving the world twice isn’t a job for just your regular old hero’s. When we do that we would be like super mega heroes!” she said excitedly. “We put so much effort into saving if before, letting it get destroyed now would be an insult to our prior work” Yusuke said. “It does seem quite dangerous, but that is all the more reason we should help” Haru said confidently. “Was it even a question?” Makoto said with a small smile on her lips. “You guys can’t expect to go into battle without the most handsome member of the team” Morgana smiled. “Wait we talking about joining the Shadow Operatives? Sign me up!” Ryuji said. “All that work for nothing…” Ann continued whining. “But we have to help. I won’t let anything mess with our planet again. Everyone turned and looked at Ren, resolution clear to see on their face. A sudden knock on the door startled the group. “Ahh what is it now? I mean can we get a friggen moment of peace and quiet on this vacation?! That is what you’re supposed to do on them right? Or am I mistaken? Cause so far I feel like we ain’t really getting that vacation we won!” Ryuji said getting worked up. “At least whoever it is had the curiosity to knock” Yusuke said. “Yea great they didn’t bust in the room with guards like last time whoopty doo” Ann said rolling her eyes.
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Makoto, the closest one to the door, opened it to reveal two people, the one in the back much larger than the one in the front. The one in front was a short woman with long blue hair. She wore an unbuttoned blazer with a white undershirt, a blue tie, and pants to match. Behind her was a very muscular man, a foldable chair swung over his shoulder. His glasses sat just below a scar on the side of his face, which was contorted in a look of displeasure. He wore black jeans and a matching sleeveless shirt, which exposed his bulging muscles that made even Ryuji jealous. “Greetings” the woman said, bowing her head. “We were sent here by Mitsuru to try and figure out what’s going on together. May we come in?” Makoto turned and looked at Ren, along with the other members of the Phantom Thieves. Ren nodded, relief showing on the other members face as they grasped the chance to have someone explain what was going on. “Please come in” Makoto said. The group moved to the table, Ren sitting at one end, and the woman sitting at the other end. The bulky man and Ryuji continued to stand, as they seemed to have an unspoken one-sided rivalry. “Before we begin I think introductions would help us become closer” the woman said. Everyone nodded in agreement, as Ryuji moaned. “Aww great even more names to remember!” he complained, completely ignored by everyone else in the room. “I am Naoto Shirogane…” the woman started before being interrupted by the slam of hands on the table, and the sound of a chair screeching on the floor. “You’re the NAOTO SHIROGANE?!” Futaba exclaimed, out of her chair, leaning so far over the table she was practically laying on it. “What she a big shot or something?” Ryuji mouthed off, not fully interested. “Ah I remember” Haru chimed up. “I saw a documentary on her once. She solved some of the hardest cases ever seen in Japan. Even ones the police determined impossible. She even has her own fan club. She’s really famous.” “Famous? She built the road for the Akechi as the detective prince!” Futaba yelled. “Akechi…” Naoto said. The Phantom Thieves, recalling recent events, became silent, and the room was filled with a quiet gloom. “His death was a tragedy for the world. A protégé lost so early… We appeared to have much in common. I would have liked to meet him before he passed.” Naoto said. The Phantom Thieves were silent, unsure how to respond. “He was misguided.” Ren said, breaking the silence. “But deep down he wanted to do good. In a different life you would have been friends.” Naoto smiled. “Thank you" she said. "Now returning to our introductions the man behind me refusing to sit is Kanji Tatsumi.” Another pair of hands slammed onto the table accompanied with a chair screeching on the floor. This time it was Ann who was practically laying across the table. “Kanji Tatsumi?!” she asked, excited. Kanji scratched his face, and looked away from Ann “Yea that’s me.” “No way! I love your designs! My closet is like full of them! There so cute!!” Ann squealed. The room was silent as everyone tried to figure out what just happened. “Ann, who is this man?” Yusuke asked. “Seriously? You guys don’t know who Kanji Tatsumi is?” Ann said in disbelief. The rest of the Phantom Thieves shook their heads in unison. “He is a world famous clothes designer!” Ann exclaimed. “Wait your telling me this hunk is a woman’s clothes designer!?” Ryuji yelled, pointing at Kanji. “There is nothing wrong with a man pursuing his artistic interest’s Ryuji.” Yusuke said, a slight tone of anger in his voice. The man in question, who under the gazes of everyone in the room and unaccustomed to being praised and defended, was blushing. “Stop blushing man it ain’t cool!” Ryuji yelled. “The hell? It ain’t my fault, stop staring at me!” Kanji spit back. “Ryuji it’s not very gentlemanly to insult a man’s profession” Morgana said from his spot on Futaba’s lab. “Though I have to admit I would have guessed he had other talents” he whispered under his breath. Yusuke’s eyes suddenly light up. “Yes I do remember studying his works in one of my courses.” He suddenly approached Kanji, pen and paper appeared in his hand seemingly from nowhere. Faster than light, he was between Ryuji and Kanji interrupting their argument with questions about design. Moments later Ann was on her feet next to him, spitting out even more questions at the flustered man. Naoto cleared her throat, loudly, causing the disturbances in the room to realize this wasn’t the time and place, sheepishly returning to their seats. “Now that we finally got you guys out of the way, it’s our turn. I’m…” Ryuji began. “Ryuji Sakamoto. Yes we are aware of who you are, and in light of the disturbances in this conversation already we can skip over your introductions. Ryuji looked heart broken, his moment in the spot light gone. “How do you know are names already? You and Mitsuru?” Makoto asked. “I’m sure Mitsuru has already mentioned the Shadow Operatives to you” Naoto said. “Oh yea she did! Are you guys we talk sign up or are there forms…?” Ryuji asked, once again ignored. “The Shadow Operatives is an organization entirely funded by the Kirijo group. They deal with anything and everything involving shadows and personas” Naoto began to explain. “When Mitsuru believed there to be a connection between the Phantom Thieves and persona’s she tasked me with investigating. We then received a tip saying a great threat to humanity would emerge here, and that we should gather as many persona users as possible. I told Mitsuru I didn’t have conclusive evidence the Phantom Thieves used personas, or that you were Phantom Thieves. We decided to take the risk and brought you all here. You all are the first non-hostile group we have made contact with.”
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“Brought us here?” Yusuke asked confused. “But I won the tickets to come here from a street vendor. It is no mere coincidence that you so happened to structure the whole operation upon the dates we arrived.”
“What if they found out when we were coming because they were spying on Yusuke when he won the tickets and then planned the operation around that?” Ann asked.
“Whoa… Awesome!” Ryuji and Morgana said, eyes wide, lost in their own world of super spy’s and espionage unlikely even close to the level Naoto suggested.
“It makes sense right?” Ann said happy that she may have been right.
“Mmmm… I don’t think so” Haru said. Organizing an operation of this size in such little time is a monstrous task. Even with the power of the Kirijo group at its back, bringing together people requires making peoples schedules free. There is almost no way to bring people together in that little time. There will always be someone who can’t clear their scandal in that time.” she explained.
“Awww” Ann said defeated.
“Unless the dates on the tickets had already been worked out to be convenient for them” Makoto suddenly said.
Naoto nodded, smiling at Makoto, as she sympathized with her position in her group as the brains. “It was no mere chance that you won those tickets. We selected dates that worked for us, and then gave you the tickets with you under the assumption you had won them. In order to do so we studied Yusuke’s route outside of school and set up a raffle there. Then we offered food as a prize, playing off his relative poverty to entice him to play.”
“I was played like a damn fiddle” Yusuke muttered.
“But why not just approach us directly?” Futaba asked.
“Honesty… some of us still had doubts if you all were actually the Phantom Thieves. The existence of personas is a closely guarded secret from the world, and as such we couldn’t risk exposing the wrong group to such sensitive information. This operation allowed us to investigate you up close and confirm whether or not you were the right group. Some of us also believed you also could have fled if we had tried to approach your group.” Naoto explained.
“So you brought us out here without explaining a friggen thing and threw us into danger without knowing if we could even use personas? What the eff?” Ryuji said, standing up in anger.
“That… we didn’t think the threat would emerge so soon. Our only goal here was to investigate if you could use personas or not” Naoto said.
Kanji stared down at Ryuji, he clicked his tongue and sat back down, upset yet understating of her answer. Naoto continued.
“In all honesty we aren’t sure of the true severity of this situation. If you went through anything similar to what we did, we are operating on the assumption that this is even worse.”
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“…It is even worse” The statement fell onto the Phantom Thieves like a sack of bricks. “But that’s impossible! We fought a God! What the eff could be stronger than God?” Ryuji cried out. “To be precise we fought a manifestation a manifestation of mankind’s collective will who believed he was a god” Makoto corrected Ryuji. “And we barely won. What if we had to fight an actually God?” “Hold on a second. Are you saying Gods are real?” Morgana said from Futaba’s lap where he had given up struggling from her grip. “After what we experienced denying the existence of gods would directly contradict what we have seen. For all we know there could be stronger Gods than Yaldabaoth out there” Makoto added. Kanji and Naoto seemed to pick up the slight disconnect in the conversation, having only heard Morgana’s question as a meow, but after exchanging a quick glance at each other they decide to not stop the flow of the conversation. “Can we win against something stronger than that thing?” Ann asked. Everyone in the room knew the terror of fighting a world ending power. The weight that carried, the weight of the world. The room was silent until Naoto spoke. “Yes we can. Together with our friends anything is possible. So will you join us?” she extended her hand across the table. All eyes turned to Ren. He cast his eyes over his friends. They all looked determined. “We already fought to save the world once before. We aren’t letting those sacrifices go to waste” Ren said, extending his hand and shaking Naoto’s. “All right!” Ryuji said, slamming the table with his fist and completely ruining the atmosphere. “So what’s the plan of attack! Full frontal? A sneak attack with the other Shadow Operatives? Cause were Shadow Operatives now, right?” Naoto looked at Kanji. “Like we said, we lack the information to act right now. Unless you all know something than we are stuck” Naoto said, frustration edged into her voice but it seemed as if she had experience in dealing with meatheads like Ryuji. “So we just have to wait? This blows!” Ryuji pouted. All the others felt the same way, but didn’t say anything. “Well here is what we do know…” Makoto and Futaba explained the conclusion they reached about the passage of time, they described the empty world to her and its possible connection to the palaces, mementos, T.V. world and midnight hour and the possibility that they had all had originated from there, the trials they went through to advance, they explained what the voice had said to them in that world, and then mentioned the world of blue and then they were back here. Naoto listened intently asking several questions, and taking out a notepad to recite exactly the words the voice had used. Kanji and the rest of the Phantom Thieves sat in silence listening to the girls talk. Ryuji fell asleep a few times until prodded by Ann to wake up with a swift elbow to the ribs. Kanji managed to pick up Morgana, who had escaped the clutches of Futaba in her excitement to talk to Naoto and now held the cat close to his chest, petting him firmly. The cat tried to escape, but the man’s muscular grip was too much for the cat. “I understand” Naoto said, the explanations of Makoto’s near perfect memory and Futaba’s explanation on the difference in time helped her put together a very full picture of what was going on. The girls were wrapping up when Ren realized that they had forgotten something. “The voice in that strange world. Do you remember what it said?” Ren asked. The others in the room looked at him quizzical looks on their faces. “Ren… there was no voice in that world. In fact I couldn’t even hear myself scream” Ann said. Yusuke leaded over put a hand on Ren’s forehead. “No he doesn’t have a fever” He said siting back down and inspecting his own hand, as if the measurement device had been the problem. “What did it say?” Naoto asked. Ren repeated the words he had heard. “And your sure you heard that?” Naoto asked after writing down what he said. He nodded. She put the notebook away and closed her eyes. “There are several ways to extrapolate this information” she said. Before anyone could ask her to continue she went on. “Whatever was speaking in that empty world clearly doesn’t want humans there, and clearly has something against humanity. Furthermore our experiences were all used as trials, meaning that whatever is there knows what we went through. I can think of 4 possibilities for how it knows what we went through.” “Woah for real?” Ryuji exclaimed. Yusuke nodded to himself “That is a world class detective for you.” Naoto continued speaking. “1) Someone who knows what all of 3 of our groups went through sold us out. Though I can’t think of many people with that information, and we trust all of them.” A single long nosed face came to Ren’s mind. One that was involved deeply with personas. He removed the idea from his head and kept listening to Naoto. “2) Whatever was there had the ability to read our minds and tried to use our experiences against us. We have fought enemies like this before. 3) Whatever has been in there has been watching all of us this whole time. And finally 4) Going along with the idea that the might night hour, T.V. world, and mementos came from that empty world.” Naoto eyes flashed, as if she had just realized exactly what she was going to imply. “Whatever is in there… caused the events we went through.”
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The room was silent as everyone took in this possibility. A being capable of creating an extra hour each day, a being capable of creating an entire world inside a T.V., capable of even manifesting peoples desires as physical objects. A being which could alter the physical laws of the world. Could they beat something like that? “That… can’t be right? Haha” Ann laughed nervously. “There’s no way something could have that much power. Right? Guys?” The room was silent. They all wanted to agree with Ann but were unable to voice it with any level of confidence. “I mean what about the velvet room? Who created that?” Haru turned and asked Ren. The velvet room was a place they had all been which also defied the laws of the physical universe. “Could it be connected to this somehow?” Ren thought. “It’s that funny long nose man right? Igor?” Futaba said holding her hands in front of her face, putting them in front of her nose attempting to mimic her own, and attempting unsuccessfully to imitate his voice. “No no no he sounded like this” Ryuji cut in giving his own poor attempt at mimicking his voice. Makoto cut in, serious as ever. “When we met Igor he didn’t appear to be human. I don’t think we know if he created the velvet room, but it is a fair guess. “Did Igor create the velvet room?” Ren thought. “He certainly didn’t seem human. If that was so why was he helping humans? What were his goals?” Ren wondered if he was connected to this somehow, or at least knew what was going on. But there was no way to find out, Igor had been gone for a while. “Ren the voice that spoke to you in the blue world, was it Igor?” Naoto asked. Ren shook his head. It wasn’t, he was sure of it. “From what the voice said to you it sounds like we have an ally on our side. Whatever is happening it seems that we all have been dragged into something much bigger” she concluded. The room fell into a solemn silence, their minds racing to understand the situation they were in. And those who couldn’t race fast quickly gave up. Ryuji leaned over to Ren and whispered in his ear “Hey you ever hear of this ‘Kanji’ guy?” still holding a slight grudge after their exchange earlier. He was frustrated at his lack of ability to stand out in front of the amazing people before him so he was itching to find something he did better than them them. Whispering was not one of those things. Ryuji had never learned how to properly whisper. In the silent room, and having spoken a bit too loudly, Kanji heard Ryuji’s question. “You want to say something to me blondie, say it to my face!” “Huh, my name is Ryuji, and you better learn it!” Ryuji escalated the conversation. Ann tried to pull at his shirt to get him to stop, but Ryuji was intent on trying to assert his superiority over Kanji. “No thanks I’m good.” “We should respect our elders and hosts” Makoto tried to warn him. “We fought against wrongful authority. And any guy that looks like that and designs clothes has no authority over me!” Ryuji asserted. “I mean why is this guy even here?” the question was aimed at Naoto but Ryuji didn’t wait for a response. “It’s not like he contributed anything to the conversation, he’s been more useless than Morgana!” “Hey!” Morgana hissed. “Well, neither did you!” Kanji noted. “You probably only came because you had nothing better to do!” Ryuji accused him, as if it that was some horrible crime he had committed. Naoto, sick of the childish argument, spoke up. “He’s here because I asked him to come because…” Naoto blushed and looked down shyly. Her next few words were almost a whisper. “Because… he is my boyfriend.” The room went silent. Kanji blushed again. The idea of the relatively petite girl and the tall muscular man was a strange combination to the Phantom Thieves. “You’re dating her…” Ryuji, just informed of another way of which he was inferior to Kanji, muttered. Rather than end argument like Naoto had wanted to, she stirred something deep within Ryuji. “Anyway that’s not the point” Ryuji went on. His voice started to crack, he was starting to sound hysterical. “What are you doing carrying that chair? You look like an idiot! You didn’t even sit in it this whole time!” “I never planned to sit in it!” “What’s the point of a chair, if you’re not going to sit in it!?” “I panicked and grabbed it as a weapon!” "What idiot would use a chair as a weapon? It’s not like being hit by that would even hurt!” “Oh yea wanna find out?” Kanji, tired of the pointless squabble between them, lifted the chair up. As the argument reached its peak the door to the room flew open. Standing in the doorway was a bear. An honest to god cartoon bear.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Phantom Theives stood stunned as the bear squeezed his round body through the door frame. “Greetings Kanji!” the bear said putting his hands in the air in excitement and looking at Kanji. He then turned to Naoto; “greetings Nao-chan!” He then turned to Ryuji. “Greetings Kanji!” he said again. Before anyone could respond he went on. “Kanji who are these lovely lades behind you? Are you going to…” Teddie suddenly stopped. He looked ar Ryuji. He looked at Kanji. He looked back at Ryuji. He looked back at Kanji. Then he jumped back. “Th-Theres two Kanjis?!” “I’m right here idiot!” the real Kanji spat at Teddie. “Then the other one must be a shadow! Don’t worry ladies I will handle shadow Kanji! Bearsona!” Teddie yelled out as he slapped the air, his momentum causing him to spin in a circle. Naoto and Kanji wanted to look away in embrasement, while the rest of the Phantom Theives stared shocked at whatever they had just seen. Ryuji, Morgana, and Futaba were both trying to hold in their laughs. “Bearsona? Is that just a persona for bears?” Ann muttered as the confused and dizzy Teddie stood up. Teddie shook of his confusion, determination in his eyes. “Don’t worry ladies Teddie will save the day!” He raced forward to Ryuji and jumped in the air. Ryuji was still bent over holding in a laugh, and he had no time to react as a flying cartoon bear drop kicked him. “What are you doing moron!?” Kanji said picking up the bear with one hand. Ann and Yusuke had went over to Ryuji who had moved a couple feet away from where he was originally standing. He was shaking his head. “Sorry, sorry!” Teddie said, flailing all his limbs as he dangled in Kanjis grasp. “It’s just with the blonde hair he looked like Kanji!” “Huh? I don’t look like that shrimp!” Kanji said back, dropping Teddie on his butt. “I’m not a shrimp, I’m a Phantom Thief!” Ryuji said, now back on his feet. The room fell silent. The other Phantom Thieves sighed and shook their heads. “He really just came out and said it huh?” Futaba said. “I guess we really couldn’t expect any more than that from Ryuji anyway” Morgana said. “You can be a shrimp and a Phantom Thief at the same time” Makoto pointed out. “And an air head” Ann added. “Huh what? Why are you all acting like that? Did I say something wrong?” Ryuji asked. “You just told him we are the Phantom Thieves” Haru said a bit annoyed. “Yea but, it seems like they all know anyway” Ryuji said. “Who are the Phantom Thieves?” Teddie asked. “But more importantly who are these lovely ladies?” Teddie asked before anyone could respond. Teddie walked up to Futaba and knelt in front of her. On one knee, he unzipped the top part of his costume, and pulled off the head. A beautiful blonde boy popped out. It was the same boy that Ren had met earlier. Ann and Yusuke gasped, both admiring his natural looks. He took Futaba’s hand in his own. “Ma’am would you make me the happiest bear in the world by simply granting me the gift of knowing name?” he asked, stars in his eyes as he stared directly at her. “Is he always this… gross?” Ann asked. Kanji nodded, hope gone from his eyes for his friend. Futaba blushed and looked away from Teddies’ intense stare, she may have been getting better with other people, but this was too much for her. “F-Futaba” she muttered. “Then I shall call you Fu-chan.” He said. Then he dove out of the costume on to her, latching on to her. “Fu-chan, Fu-chan” he called out. Futaba had frozen with anxiety and could not do anything against Teddie. “Let the girl go” a voice demanded of Teddie. “This feeling… Chie-Chan!” Teddie said, jumping back. He scanned the room and focused on the two people who had stood up at the table. Makoto cracked her knuckles, glaring at Teddie. Haru also stood up, though not doing anything menacing, she also gave off the same aura that Makoto was. Teddie had felt their aura, and jumped back instinctively. “Naoto, is it ok if we teach this ill-behaved bear a lesson?” Makoto asked without even turning her head. “Please do” she responded. “Haru?” Makoto asked, stepping forward. “Gladly” Haru responded. They both approached Teddie, cutting off all escape for the trapped bear. “Oh let me join in too” Ryuji said, glad to have an excuse to have payback for the drop kick. Ann sighed. “He’s got the looks of a model, but his personality sucks. Then again most models have bad personalities.” “Indeed, art can deceivingly bring out beauty” Yusuke said. “Especially when there is none” Ann answered. They continued to converse trying to ignore what was happening to poor Teddie.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Teddie had put the costume back on, not wanting his face to be seen after the girls had finished with him. He was hiding behind Kanji, shaking. Haru and Makoto weren’t looking at him, but he was still scared of them. “Teddie” Naoto said. He jumped at the mention of his name. “Y-Yes he stammered out between chattering teeth. “Why did you come Teddie? Did you have something to tell us?” “N-no I was just stopping by when I smelled some lovely ladies I had never smelled before… AH!” he jumped. The girls all discreetly check if they smelled, and with silent eye contact they all confirmed with each other that, this wasn’t the case. “I was supposed to tell you dinner is ready.” “Dinner?!” Yusuke stood up. “Do these accommodations come with dinner?!” He asked drool almost running down his face. The rest of the Phantom Thieves were also starting to feel hungry, and were glad to hear that they could eat. However, two people were not looking excited. Ren noticed that Kanji had turned completely pale. Kanji fell to his knees. Everyone looked at him. “Kanji, whats wrong?” Teddie asked. Kanji reached up and grabbed Teddie by the shoulders. “Please… please tell dinner wasn’t made by Yukiko. Please. That… stuff… its not food…” he said, almost whimpering the last part out. “What’s wrong with Yukiko’s cooking? I think any girls cooking is the best! “Teddie please our lives are at stake here.” Kanji pleaded. “Hmmmm…” Teddie throught for a moment, put his hands to his head and thinking as hard as he could. “I don’t think it was Yukiko… AH! It was Fuu-Chan! She supposedly had a good teacher and volunteered.” He finally came up with an answer. The life returned to Kanji’s face, and Ren could swear he noticed Naoto breath a small sigh of relief. Teddie excitedly patted Kanji’s shoulder “You should be happy it’s still a girls cooking” he headed for the door “I’ll tell them you…” he stopped and counted how many people were in the room. “9 are coming to dinner” he said as he walked out the door. He stepped out of the door he twirled around and blew a kiss back into the room, skipping away happily after. “9… Hey you didn’t count me!” Morgana hissed after Teddie. Naoto stood up; “We should get going. I will show you to where the others are.” The phantom thieves stood up and stretched. “Thank goodness, my legs were killing me!” Ann said stretching. “Ah, before we go you all should grab any weapons you brought. We don’t know if we will get transported again, so we should be ready at all times.” The phantom thieves nodded, and Haru stepped into the other room. She was making a call to order their weapons to be dropped off. Makoto had suggested they all keep them with Haru after they no longer needed them, and then have them dispatched using Haru’s resources if they ever needed them quickly. Ren reached into his bag and pulled out his model gun, and plastic knife he had made a habit of carrying. Probably not a good habit, but it was one he could simply not stop. “Is that a gun?!” Kanji said surprised. “A wise choice” Naoto said, approvingly. “It’s only a model” Ren said, putting the gun in his waistband. “Why would you carry a model gun?” Kanji asked. “Tell us on the way, we shouldn’t keep them waiting for much longer” Naoto said. “Oh before we go… can I ask you guys to not mention to the others that you know… were dating...” Kanji said, blushing towards the end of his statement and looking at the floor, his voice trailing off. Naoto was doing the same. “There such a cute couple” Ann whispered. “It’s like a princess and her giant teddy bear” Haru added. “And why would we do that” Ryuji said, antagonizing them. “Because pain hurts” Kanji said, lifting up his chair menacingly. “Because it would upset some of our friends. We planned on telling them, but right now it would only cause more problems” Naoto said providing a slightly more logical, yet less persuasive reason. The girls of the Phantom Thieves nodded, looking at Ren. “We understand” Makoto said. “Don’t worry we will keep him in line” Ann added. Ryuji and Yusuke looked confused. “Why did they all look at Ren?” Yusuke asked. “I don’t know man, don’t ask me” Ryuji answered. Kanji just shrugged, while Naoto sighed deeply. Morgana chuckled from between them. “Oh you two have so much to learn” he said. The group stepped into the hall, with Kanji and Naoto in the front, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves in the middle, with Ren and Ryuji, who was just trying to stay away from Kanji, at the back. Makoto was explaining why the Phantom Thieves used fake weapons to Naoto, they seemed to be getting along very well, Ren noted. “I see. So if that world is connected to these ‘palaces’ you visited then your fake weapons should become usable” Naoto concluded. Ren suddenly stopped walking. Movement down the side hall had caught his attention. Mitsuru had just stepped out of a room down the hall. She closed the door behind her with great care, and then propped herself up against the wall and sighed loudly enough that Ren heard it down the hall. “You coming man?” Ryuji asked. Just for stopping for half a moment he had been separated from the group, Ryuji and Morgana had stopped and waited for him. “I’ll catch up later” he said, walking towards Mitsuru. The other two shrugged and caught back up to the group, who turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Ren started walking towards Mitsuru when she started talking. It was clearly to herself, as there was no one else around, and it was barely above a whisper. “Is it my fault that she is got injured? I was the one who asked them to help.”
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Mitsuru looked up, and saw Ren approaching. She quickly composed herself. “Chie is inside. She is stable for now, but Yu is a bit shaken.” She said, grabbing her elbow. “We need to talk later” she said and walked passed Ren. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s their town, they chose to defend their home” Ren said, without turning around. Mitsuru stopped walking. Ren heard her take a deep sigh and barely made out her next words. “You wildcards… are all so alike” and then she kept walking. Ren stood in front of the door to the room and steeled himself for what was inside. He had just meet Chie, but she seemed to be a kind, energetic girl, and Ren liked her. He opened the door, inside was a bed that the unconscious Chie lay on. She was surrounded by three people, Yu and Yosuke sat on opposite sides of her, while Yukiko, the girl from the desk, stood a little behind Yosuke. Even though Yosuke and Yukiko were facing Ren, they had not notice him come in. Yu was clenching his fist while looking at Chie. “I should have been there! I promised to protect everyone, and I wasn’t even there!” He said pounding his leg. Yukiko almost looked frightened at Yu’s outburst, while Yosuke attempted to reach out a hand to him. Before he could Yu started speaking again. “I promised after Nanako that I wouldn’t let anyone get…” before he could finish Yosuke stood up and walked up to Yu. He didn’t even look away from Chie’s face. He never even saw Yosuke’s punch coming. Yukiko flinched as the punched knocked Yu clean out of his chair, and onto the floor. Yu, shocked, looked up at the infuriated Yosuke. “You moron!” he yelled at Yu. “It’s not all on your shoulders, were here too!” he said. Yukiko nodded to Yosuke’s words, as he continued lecturing Yu. “Did you hit your head or something?! We all decided to protect this town together! We all decided to fight together! You may be the leader, but she was the one who decided to put herself in harm’s way! She was trying to protect our town, and there’s nothing she wouldn’t sacrifice to do so! Same goes for all of us! If you don’t respect her decision, she may as well have…” Yosuke gritted his teeth, scared to finish the statement. Yu was quiet for a moment. Ren could guess what was going through his mind. “You’re right. Sorry I spoke a bit out of line there. I understand. We all started this together, and we will all finish it together.” Yu said. Yosuke reached out his hand, and pulled Yu up, looking him in the eye. “No problem partner, happens to the worst of us. We will find whoever did this to our friend and make them pay.” Yosuke said, his voice turning ice cold. Ren could see him squeezing down on Yu’s hand, and Yu did the same back, as he nodded. A silent agreement passed between the two. Then the moment was gone. “But sorry for hitting your face.” Yosuke added. “No, I needed it.” “Yea you kinda did. Anyway, I’m going to get food, wanna come with?” “Nah I’ll stay here.” Yosuke looked over to Yukiko. “How about you?” She shook her head in reply. “Don’t worry I’ll be back quick, and bring you back some food as well” he said walking to the door. “When I walked passed the kitchen earlier it smelled so good! I can’t wait to eat editable food prepared by a girl.” He said leaving the room. He only saw Ren as he was leaving the room, simply giving him a passing pat on the shoulder. Then he closed the door and was gone. Ren noticed the hand he used to punch Yu was still clenched when he left the room. Maybe his outburst earlier had been how he was dealing with his own emotions about the situation. Ren thought back to when he had met him, only hours ago, but it felt so much longer. He was right, and Yosuke and his group had clearly been through some very rough situations, and he had just seen a bit past the surface to what those situations were. He wondered how different the two groups, Yu’s and the Phantom Thieves really were. Yu, having picked his chair back up from where it had been knocked over, took out his phone and checked the time. “Yukiko I’m heading out for a bit, will you stay with Chie?”She nodded. “The fresh air will help you clear your head” she told him. “Sorry for worrying you.” “I would be more worried if you weren’t as upset.” “And how are you holding up?” “Fine.” Yukiko’s said very flat. Even from a distance Ren could see she was trembling. Yu nodded and turned to the door, and spotted Ren. He nodded for the Ren to follow him into the hall. Ren did so and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door closed Ren heard faint sobs coming from within.
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Ren followed Yu down the hallway in relative silence. Yu seemed to be lost in thought, and Ren dare not disturb him. Finally came to a door and both stepped outside into a small courtyard. Ren guessed they were somewhere towards the back of the building, but he had no idea where. Yu looked out over the small area, and seeming to see find what he was looking for, sat down on a small bench. Ren decided to remain standing, while Yu threw a glance over him. “Have you met Chie before?” he asked Ren Ren nodded. “She showed me the way here.” “Oh. That is like her” he said then slipped into silence again. They sat in silence, something both of them were quite used to. “That thing you’re carrying in your back pocket… what is it?” Yu asked halfheartedly, finally breaking the silence. Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out the model gun, handing it to Yu. “A model gun…” Yu looked over the model, studying it with fake intensity. “I made one of these a while back, this is pretty well made. I can see you are quite diligent.” “I prefer the term proficient” Ren said. “That as well” Yu nodded staring past the gun. It felt like he was being sincere, but his words felt hollow, as if what he was still focusing on something else. “And you carry this because it functions as a real weapon in those ‘palaces’ you mentioned earlier right?” Yu asked a question that was already explained to him. Ren nodded, and took the model back from Yu. “Maybe later I can show you my collection later, there could be something we can use to fight this… thing” he said. Yu’s eyes, now gleaming with intensity, perked up and looked at Ren. “How do you handle the responsibility of being a leader? I know as your elder I shouldn’t be asking you, but I’m not sure what to do. I know you understand what I mean. We all decided to fight for our home together. It was all our own decision, to fight and protect all loved ones, that is why we fight. And we came together and became stronger because of it. But it still feels like when something happens it is on me as leader. As the leaders it feels like we are responsible for anything that happens to them and if...” Yu clenched his fist, his eyes wild, swirling with rage, pain, and sadness. “As leader they trust us to remain strong, and that in turn gives us the strength to be strong. Their feelings give us strength, but at the same we feel that much more pain through them. But we have to hide that at all times. As leader this is no blame. No guilt. There is only what is. And what we must do” Ren said, speaking much more than usual. But it needed to be said to Yu right now. And it seemed to have the right effect on him. “Maybe being a leader is only for us fools” Yu chuckled at his word play, his fist falling to his side. His usual self-resurfaced. “Thank you. Right now is when I need to be the strongest for them.” Yu’s eyes were now focused and sharp, he knew what he had to do. Within nothing else to do beside wait, he decided to continue asking questions of the experiences of the leader of the Phantom Thief before him. “Speaking of being a fool, you also have the wild card, right?” Ren nodded. “So you have been to the velvet room too? How’s Margret” Yu asked, interested in his old friend. Ren shook his head and explained how he had had two little girls as his guide. “Sisters huh? She did mention she had family” Yu said. Ren went on to explain how it was really one little girl, Lavenza that was the sister, and his two guides, Caroline and Justine, were made by Yaldabaoth. “He managed to do that huh? And you defeated him? You may even be stronger than me” Yu remarked. Ren went on explaining Naoto’s theory that what ever was in the empty world possibly made not only Yaldabaoth, but also the other Gods the groups had fought, Nyx and Ameno-sagiri, came from that world. Yu put his hands to his chin. “Do you trust Igor?” Ren was startled by the question. He had only known the real Igor for a short time, but he seemed to be honestly helping the team. “Sorry we investigators mind set, but I am being serious” Yu went on. “It is strange that these world ending events have all happened so close together. If they were consistently occurring at this rate throughout history it’s likely that someone would have failed, and the world would have ended. But Mitsuru and the Shadow Operatives have looking for years, and they have not found any other persona users besides your group. And it seems that Igor brings in a new group every time. But, if he was trying to save the world wouldn’t he bring in the the more experienced group or at least inform them of the danger? He even describes himself more like an observer or guide, than an ally to humanity, but what is he observing or guiding us to? It’s like protecting humanity isn’t his main goal, more like a product of his goal” Yu asked a string of questions, never once slowing down his train of thought for an answer. Ren understood how he had led his group to solving a murder. “Where did the velvet room even come from? He and his assistants don’t appear human, so what are they? Could they be linked to that empty world? We are able to summon personas in both, so there must be some connection” Yu continued. “What about that world covered in blue and the mysterious voice? If we were pulled from one to the other than they must be connected somehow” Ren added. “Hmmmm…” Yu was in thought. “It was the same blue as interior of the velvet room car, so maybe the connection is there?” Ren asked him to stop. The velvet room was a prison he said. “It’s a reflective of the guest. Man you must have had it ruff” Yu said. Suddenly there was a yap behind them. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fox. It was wearing a red heart patterned bib, and was carrying something in its mouth. Ren was prepared to scare it off with his model gun, but Yu suddenly approached the fox and knelt down in front of him. He petted the fox’s head and made a purring sound in return. Yu stopped and held out his hand, and the wolf dropped something into it. Yu stood back up and walked up to Ren, the fox trailing shyly behind him. “Sorry about, this is the little guy we were waiting for.” He held out his and showed Ren a small leaf. “It might be hard to believe, but the leafs at the shire this guy lives at have a strong healing property.” After what Ren had been though, and what they were just discussing, a magical leaf was very well within the realm of possibility. “Right now this is all I can do for Chie, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give up” Yu said. “Ah this is also the guy that got me interested in models. Well his mother actually, I made my first model for her” Yu said. And with that the conversation was now at a point where Ren had a hard time putting the pieces together. Suddenly, a loud tearing sound from the inn was heard. Ren and Yu swiveled to look at the door. There was a hole on the thin door, and a dog midair.
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The dog land graciously, and charged strait towards the pair, yapping. The fox’s tail brisled and he starting arching his back, yapping back. “Please stop that dog!” a voice came from the house. Ren moved between the dog and the fox, leaning over to pick him up. As the dog approached he jumped up, and using Ren’s back as a spring, jumped again. The fox yelped again and then scampered off. Before the dog could land Yu caught it mid-air. The dog lost interest in the fox and began licking Yu’s face. “Calm down Koromaru, calm down boy! You sure have a lot of energy for an old man!” After Yu said that Ren realized that this was the dog he had picked up for the boy earlier. “Looks like I will have to apologize to him later” Yu said looking at where the fox had run and placing Koromaru on the ground. He happy ran up to Ren, who gladly pet him. “Thank you for stopping him, your help was very much appreciated” a voice came from behind Ren. He turned around to see a very tall blonde woman behind him, but due to his keen eye sight, work as a Phantom Thief, and extensive work with models, he immediate saw something was off. Her joints were all robotic, the tips of her fingers had a line were they were detachable, and the thing that looked like headphones was actually attached to her head. “A robot?” Ren asked without hesitation. “Yes. I am a seventh generation anti-shadow suppression weapon made by the Kirijo group. My name is Aigis, please to meet you” she said with a bow. “You don’t seem all the surprised” Yu said. “We have a talking cat.” “That cat with you… figures” Yu said shaking his heads. “I thought nothing could surprise me after Shadows and Teddie, but I guess you never can see everything huh?” Before Ren could ask what was different about Teddie, Aigis reached out and placed her hand on Ren’s heart. “You have a familiar feeling… its warm” she said, closing her eyes and allowing a pleasant smile to appear on her lips. Ren, a slight blush on his cheeks, threw a questioning look at Yu who shook just shook his head. “She did the same thing to me when we first meet.” She opened her eyes, “are you also a wild card?” Ren nodded. Her eyes gleamed with familiarity while only seeming to be focused around Ren, as if he was awkwardly filling a hole. Ren questioned if she was really a robot with those kind of expressions. “We needed to get you back inside before anyone spots you” Yu said. She nodded and the four of them began walking towards the inn. “Aigis this is…” Yu started to introduce Ren. “Ren Amamiya. Leader of the Phantom Thieves. I know. I have access to all of the Kirijo databases.” Ren wondered what else was in those databases on the Phantom Thief’s as they entered the Inn. He quickly removed the idea from his mind. These were trust worthy people, their ally’s. “Aigis can you take Ren back to his friends?” Yu asked. She nodded. “I’m going to give this medicine to Chie, you head back with her” Yu said to Ren. As he walked past Ren he leaned in and whispered to Ren. “I’ll ask Naoto for an update and tell her and Mitsuru about what we discussed. Igor’s goals clearly aren’t in line with ours, we need to be careful we don’t know the full extent of his power, he could be listening right now. We should also be cautious of the attendants. And don’t tell anyone, we don’t want to get everyone paranoid.” Ren nodded and Yu continued walking, turned the corner, and disappeared. Ren turned back to Aigis, and before he could say anything she was bowing. “I must apologize. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but due to my enhancements I was able to help myself. I will not mention what Yu spoke of to anyone and will respect your privacy, but for what it is worth I trust Igor.” After a moment of silence she continued, still bowing. “I would also like to extend my apology to my actions earlier. I should not have looked at your files or touched you without your permission.” She looked up at Ren with same longing look again before she continued. “You just felt like him, so I wanted to know more.” She quickly swiveled around, and without missing a beat said, “Your friends are this way,” and walked off with a brisk pace, Koromaru following her. Ren followed, she moved and talked quite fast, but that was only to be expected of a Robot. When he finally managed to match pace with her he asked her his question. “Who did I remind you of?” “Our original leader. He used the last of his life to seal away Nyx, sacrificing himself to save the whole world. He was also the person I…” Aigis didn’t finish the statement, just clutched her chest. She didn’t need to finish. “I’m sorry for your loss.” “Why?” The question startled Ren. “He gave his life so that you and I could continue living. Saying that is a loss would mean that you are wasting the gift he left us. Are you?” Ren shook his head. “His death taught me that life is the most precious gift of all. It should not be wasted as we can never know when it will end. He wanted us to understand that. That his death, while sad, should not cause us to lose our way or to lose hope. His sacrifice was for all of us” She said. Aigis suddenly stopped in front of a door and faced Ren. “Behind this door is where a temporary cafeteria has been set up. Your friends are inside.” Aigis said. It was only then did Ren realize how loud it was.
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Ren reached out and slid open the door. “Aren’t they taking a bit to long. I’ll go make sure they didn’t get lost” a voice right in front of Ren said. Before he could move the speaker, without turning to look ahead, stepped forward and bumped into him. Futaba fell backwards and hit the floor with a squeal. Ren bent over in the narrow doorway and extended a hand to the confused girl. She grabbed his hand, and then looking up noticed the girl behind Ren. Using Ren’s hand she pulled herself up, and then onto his back, leaning out of the doorway towards Aigis. “Aigis! Your back!” she said grabbing the girl’s robotic arm and pulling it close to expect it. “Futaba” Aigis started, “I will allow you to examine me later, but first could you please dismount from Ren?” Futaba stopped looking at her arm, and suddedly realized what she had done in her excitement. She turned beet red and quickly got off of Ren’s back. She turned him around and patted off his back muttering “sorry.” “Do not worry I am sure a healthy young man would not be upset with contact with a cute young woman such as yourself, in fact…” Before Aigis could continue Futaba grabbed Ren’s hand and pulled him towards a table. Neither noticed the other was red in the face. Futaba led Ren to a table where a girl was standing. She had gotten up, worried, when she saw Futaba fall down and was just now sitting back down composing herself from her laughter. Ren recognized her as the girl he had seen at the front desk, Fuuka. “Oh your back already?” she said holding in giggles “that was fast.” Futaba sat next to her, and Ren opposite her. Aigis had followed them and sat down opposite Fuuka while Koromaru barked once and then curled up at Ren’s feet. Aigis looked right at Futaba and then bowed her head. “I apologize for what I said earlier. I did not mean to offend you. It was just a joke.” “It’s fine” Futaba said, the red faded from her cheeks. “But only if you let me inspect your body later as payback.” Aigis looked up and nodded, Futaba’s face lighting up as she did so. Words started rapidly flying from her mouth, praising Aigis’s machinery and how amazing she was. Ren was barely paying attention to her and was focused Fuuka. Her eyes were aimed at Aigis yet she seemed to be looking far past her causing the corners of her mouth to just turn the slightest bit up. “You’ve changed so much” she muttered, entranced with whatever was holding her attention. She was thrown out of the trance by Futaba shaking her in excitement mentioning Gundam and other varies Mecha to compare Aigis to. As the three became lost in their discussion of electronics and machinery Ren began looking around the tom. He was surprised how quickly the groups had seem to blend together. Then again it was likely that everyone gathered here had experiences that no one else besides the others here could understand. No one else could understand what they went through. Ren turned to listen to the group closest to him. It wasn’t a real test of this thief skills, anyone in the room could hear the three of them arguing. Teddie and Yosuke seemed to be filing a complaint with Kanji.
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“Why do you of all people get a girlfriend?! You know how hard I have tried?” Yosuke said, leaning over the table and shouting at Kanji. “What’s that supposed to mean, huh?” Kanji said, standing up and leaning over both Yosuke and the table. “Poor Nao-chan having to go out with a brute like you…” Teddie said sighing. “Hey you leave her out of this!” “Give her back! Give back m cute Nao-chan!” Teddie said, pounding the unflintching Kanji’s chest. Just when it looked like Kanji was about to really make Teddie stop, he turned around and crossed his arms. “I’m not talking to you anymore! Not until you give me Nao-chan’s heart back!” Teddie said storming off. “Yea for once I’m with Teddie on this!” Yosuke said also walking away from the table. “Either were all bachelors or we cut the members who aren’t!” “Even though I’m the youngest, aren’t you two acting a too childish?” Kanji called after them, but both had already moved on. Since the duo had moved Ren was able to see who was sitting on the other side of them. Ren saw a man with short grey hair bowing to a flustered Makoto. Ren stealthy left the conversation he wasn’t even a part of at his table and approached the two. “Is everything alright?” Ren said to the pair. “Oh you’re back” Makoto said to Ren. “So you’re the famous Ren Amamiya, the leader of the Phantom Thieves” he said eyeing Ren from his seat. “Does everyone know were the Phantom Thivese?” Ren asked. Makoto sighed. “It appears so; however, they all seem trust worth.” “Don’t worry we were hot on your trail once, but now we’re your allies. While my duty to the police may be to catch criminals, my duty to the Shadow Operatives, friends, and other persona users is much more important. Ah my bad I seem to have gotten ahead of myself.” The man stood up and extended a hand ot Ren. “My name is Akihiko Sanada. A pleasure to meet you.” Ren shook his hand, noting his extremely tight grip. “He’s high up in the police and has worked closely to my sister in the past.” Makoto added. Akihiko bowed again to Makoto. “I must apologize, I have inconvenienced your sister greatly.” “No I am sure you have done plenty to help her as well.” “I would like to think so, I just worry if I have done anything to offend you.” “No, no of course not.” “Good, because if im being honest here, your sister scares me, and I don’t want to get on her bad side.” Something in Makoto clicked, as if this wasn’t the first time this had happened. As they continued to talk Ren scanned the room again. On the other side of the room he saw Junpei and Ryuji talking. Junpei had a fresh new set of clothes on and had calmed down, the pair seemed to be talking about sports, it sounded like they both liked baseball. Presently Junpei was pointing at Akihiko, but Ren could only make out bits and pieces of what he heard. “World Record,” “Title,” and “Youngest” all came out of Junpei’s mouth, and with each one Ryuji’s eyes would light up even more. Yosuke had joined them after leaving the Kanji and kept throwing jealous glances over at him. Presently he had been joined by Ann, the boy Ren recognized as the one walking Koromaru earlier in the day, Ken, and another girl he didn’t recognize. Koromaru was curled up in Ken’s lap and the 4 seemed to be discussing how great his fur was. Haru and Yukiko sat in the corner talking in whispers. It sounded as if they were talking business, importing some of Haru’s produce to the inn, but it seemed more like Haru was just trying keep Yukiko’s mind off of other things. Just then Yusuke came out of a connected room. He had three plates of food carefully balanced, and a piece of bread in his mouth. Underneath his arm was his sketch book and tears rolled down his face.
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“What’s wrong?” Ren asked the crying Yusuke. “All this food gracefully placed out for our consumption. How could one not be moved by such overwhelming generosity from our hosts. These are merely tears of joy from being wrapped in the kindness of our hosts.”Just then there was an outcry of laughter from the table of guys. “Ah this joyful display of comradery! I must draw this beautiful sight!” Yusuke turned and then ran towards the table, balancing his plates with great skill. Ren turned back around to listen to Makoto when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Yusuke had walked backwards and held a plate out to Ren. “I see you haven’t had a chance to eat yet. Please, take this.” Yusuke placed a plate in front of Ren and quickly ran back to the group of guys. Ren was just about to take a bite to eat when he heard a voice behind him. “Do you mind if I sit here?” Ken asked. Ren shook his head and the boy sat next to him. “Thanks. We were talking about Koromaru but then Miss Ann and Miss Yukari started asking Mr. Kanji about clothing. Yukari. So that was the name of the girl that Ren hadn’t recognized. “I don’t understand women’s obsession with it” the kid said shaking his head. “So anyhow you’re the leader of the Phantom Thieves huh? Never would have guessed when I bumped into you earlier. Guess that’s why you never got caught.” Ren stared at the kid. He was part of Mitsuru’s group which mean he got his Persona years ago. Ren thought Futaba was too young to have been involved in danger, and was glad she was more suited to support. He couldn’t imagine someone even younger being on the front line. How desperate had Mitsuru? “You think I am too young to fight huh?” Ken asked. Ren’s eyes flickered in surprise, but he quickly covered this up with his experience. “Don’t worry I don’t take any offense. I was told the same thing when I meet Yu and his friends. But it seems have your own young member.” He said looking at Futaba who had forced Aigis out of her chair and was currently doing a fully body check of her. Just beyond her was Teddie and Yusuke. The boys hadn’t held still for Yusuke’s drawing like he wanted, so he had searched for another target. Teddie, of course, was swayed quickly by Yusuke’s pretty words and the opportunity to immortalize his beauty, and very early offered himself up as a subject. He was currently standing on the table, pointing towards the heavens with a rose in his mouth. Ren wasn’t sure what it was, but Yusuke was drawing furiously on his sketch pad. Morgana chose this moment to appear again. He trotted up to Ren, hissing at Koromaru on the way over, who gave a quick, happy bark from where he sat being pet on Kanji’s lap. He jumped up onto his shoulder. “Where have you been?” he asked the cat as he appeared to smile from his perch on Ren's shoulder. “Oh just out and about. Can’t a cat just stretch his paws with getting a million questions asked of him?” Makoto overheard this and exchanged a look with Ren. “So you guys really can talk with him?” Ken asked. Akihiko looked over with just as much instrest as Ken. “I always looked out for Koromaru so I thought it would be cool if I could talk with him like Aigis does” he said looking at the cat. Morgana was about to launch into a long story neither Ken or Akihiko would have understood, when a noise came from the table of boys, that everyone stopped and looked at.
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Outline:
There are references to P1+P2 events in here, somethings might not make sense without knowledge of the events in there.
Morgana pulled some trick on the bath sign's leading to a stereotypical persona bath encounter. After which everyone goes to bed.
In the middle of the night Ren is woken up by Yu and Aigis who take him to a door in the building which has been turned into a velvet room door.
They meet and talk with Igor and talk about what happened.
When they step out of the room they are transported back to the distorted world where they fight and then meet with the others, some of which are injured.
When they are running for the exit one of them trips and falls. They get surrounded by shadows but are saved by the persona "Thanatos." They see a shadowy figure in the distance as the portal closes.
Elizbeth enters the velvet room as a guest and has a strange case (like the one you carry). Her velvet room is a maze with no beginning or end, "one you just find yourself in."
Doctors are called for the injured, Yu, Naoto, Ren, Mitsuru, talk with the others joining unable to sleep and speculate on the shadowy figure. They all go to sleep promising to talk more in the morning as Mitsuru makes phone calls.
In the morning Margret and Lavenza are in the kitchen while Theodore stays with Igor. They say they can take a more direct role helping because "he" is bending the rules as well. Elizabeth walks in explaining she is a wild card too, but before can say more they are all transported to the other world.
They fight a tentacle and mask (which spits other masks while a voice comments "how fast your kind uses itself for it's own gain"), which they assume is the last of their problems. Junpei sacrifices self to save someone. As they are in grief the group is attacked by portals opening and they realize they have limited time to come up with a solution.
Many side characters show up (who Mitsuru called) such as Adachi, Labrys, and Shu (I was debating bringing back the P1+2 case here). P1+2 cast explain who Nyarlathotep is (or Elizabeth) and explain how to beat him (and that they only killed a tentacle), Elizabeth has the spear of Longinus needed to kill him in the case from earlier.
They are taken in again. They find the shadowy figure was the P3 protagonist (who no one squeezed for fear of shattering the illusion before them). He mentions that all of their actions were enough to change human hearts (killing 2 evil gods who influenced human psyche) enough that a less powerful seal was needed and he was able to manifest some of himself here. He mentions he can only be here (not in the real world) because this world is between the real world and the world the seal is in.
They decide to send in a squad to fight Nyarlathotep the problem through the portals that keep opening up, while most of them stay out and fight the monsters that keep coming out and protect Inaba. Ren, Aigis, Elizabeth, and Yu all are part of the attack mission, sending less in thinking that more coming out means there are less inside. They meet with P3 Protag inside.
They rush in to fight Nyarlathotep (which takes form of the 3rd mask), shown images of outside. Ren comments must be fake, but Yu says there not. When they reach him he shows them the outside world, which has all their friends defeated. He says "was foolish of you all to believe that you could carry the weight of humanity’s sins. You may be able to change how humanity recognizes itself but you will never change how they truly are". They fight and lose.
They get taunted more, showed the monsters popping up around the world. Nyarlathotep claims that humans are more valiant when cornered, and eggs them to show him "the depth of humanity, the power to change the world, the stars of this very world." They all get up and summon their ultimate persona.
Nyarlathotep claims this was all a test, and that they could have won by having everyone come in and attack and giving up a little (the lives in Inaba), but because they didn't they would lose everything. They still can't win and are told "you all can never beat me alone, humans are only perfect when they are together, but believe they are only perfect if they can function apart from others, they will never understand this folly and therefor never understand themselves." He explains that he is tried of waiting and that he used the pain caused by the gods in persona 4 and 5 to gain power while waiting to see if a perfect human would come forward, otherwise all humans were better of dead (the power vacuum they left he took control over). This was his final experiment.
The masks Nyarlathotep has been appearing as are symbolic of the 3 masks Japanese folk saying. While Nyarlathotep insists this an evil mask in all humans P3 Protag comments it is one of hope that others inspire within us. It is strengthened by every interaction we have."
Everyone dies but Elizabeth and P3 Protag. Above them the stars in the sky consolidated over the mask. The P3 protagonist gets up and summons "Messiah Reincarnate" a persona of the Universe arcana. He states that "I'm not alone, the people we connect with never leaves us, they are all in my heart guiding me and helping me through life." If you test people on what you want to you will never see their strengths, just their weaknesses. Those are what defines humans.
Elizabeth gets Ultimate awaking and sacrifices her self to use the spear to break mask and reveal true body of Nyarlathotep which P3 Protag destroys.
Nyarlathotep says "It seems I have lost Philemon" and is defeated. As everyone is dead, and Erebusis gone P3 Protag gets body back and resets universe with Aigis' head in his lap like his was with his.
He wakes up in velvet room with Igor and Philemon there. He asks about his friend, and realizes that their bonds are strong enough to withstand being reset. Theodore isn't there either and when Philemon asks what happened to him P3 Protag mentions he made them human again along side all of their friends, so they could be human like they wanted as they had earned their freedom.
Cut to Aigis waking up on roof in the new world. It is the promised day (March 5th) and she is awoken by all of them rushing upstairs with Shinjiro. They all felt the urge to be there. Sleeping on her lap is human Elizabeth. They all mention they live in the same dorm and start talking and hanging out before Junpei bolts as he has a date with Chidori.
Cut to Yu walking into surprise party with all his friends and Adachi there (the golden cut scene). He mentions that he has been seeing a silvered haired women (Margret), who is co news start alongside Marie. (I just thought of that, idk if they make a good couple, gut says no, but it's what I thought of, so here she is).
Cut to Ren cleaning dishes. Lavenza is neighbor to Sojiro, and comes into café to read while parents aren't home after school. Sojiro mentions co-worker (Akechi) and Ren get along and he can leave it to both of them.
Cut to Igor and Philemon. Philemon mentions that P3 Protag is gone so they could have another chance. But it will take something greater than 1 man to change the world enough to remove Nyarlathotep completely. "He is is a much a part of humans me. He knew that he wasn’t getting rid of him. He was just giving them all a chance to be happy. Will there ever be one strong enough to change the human unconscious enough to remove Nyarlathotep?" Before him and Igor is a new Velvet room assistant. End here or final sentence about someone (implied to be P6 protag) waking up from bad dream.
And that's it. It's a little messy as I had 2 note sheets saying two different things, which I planned to integrate, and rushed to do it here. I didn't account for Anything that happened in Strikers. The remaining notes and ideas I had are below, they aren't related to the plot but are important. Notes:
Theodore not reincarnated because from alternate universe.
All attendants are holding books when we see them (Elizbeth holding while sleeping, Margret before her on camera, Lavenza reading in café booth).
Igor mentions that perfection is only possible in a group in P6, and mentions he saw this earlier.
It is mentioned that P3 group fails tests earlier in story because Akihiko meet Shinji and Junpei saw Chiedori.
Symbolism:
The red putty represents evil thoughts (that can take shape of human) but turn white after reset, Philemon mentions it's turning red at the end.
Death, seeking the truth, and freedom were the tests Nyarlathotep shows them (one's they faced in game) to see if they had really improved as humans, yet they all failed.
Elizibeths journey ends with the pain of seeing the hero fade away, understood joy of meeting P3 Protag again and pain makes her understand what it means to be human leading to the conclusion of her journey (and that's when she gets ultimate persona).
Themes of being tested and being perfect is something only someone who is not fully human can do. the P3 Protag is "perfect" not only because of knowledge of life, but because he is a Christ figure and just like him came back to life and is reborn. So he is more than human. At the end he is doing the same as wiping the slate clean of man's sin and making a world where man can be free of "sin." at the cost of his own life. And hey Atlus, P6 is the 3rd mainline game since 3, 3 day's to rise, you see what I'm getting at?
Personas:
When everyone summoned their ultimate persona Elizabeth gets one too. I left it between Icarus, Daedalus, or the guy who saved his wife from Hades if he didn't look back at here and right at the end he looked back and she was gone. (Daedalus was probably the best option).
Messiah Reincarnate looks like base Messiah, but the thing on his back expands to become a cross on its back and nail marks on his hands/feet.
Fun Interactions:
Teddie gives glasses to everyone incase something happens in there. Gives Ryuji funny looking one as he is a funny looking guy.
Junpei and Ryuji talk about baseball.
Makoto thinks Aigis shooting is cool.
Futaba mistakes Teddie as shadow and Metis is mentioned.
Ryuji mentions to Yosuke that all persona users turn out famous and successful so he doesn't have to worry. Yosuke says if only.
Ryuji acts like Yosuke around Mitsuru asking if she's single, which he is make fun of for.
Yu is interested in Ren's model guns
Chie is shocked to find out Ren is the lead of the phantom thieves, as he leaves no impression unless in costume. that makes him a good phantom thieves
Akihiko knows Sae from his police work, and is scared of her bc she is a fierce lawyer. So he is scared of Makoto initially and says she is just like her sister when she gets angry.
World of velvet:
This gets a bit tricky (especially since I haven't considered it in 1.5 years). The world of velvet and the world Nyarlathotep comes from are two sides of the same coin. They are the collective unconscious, places like the T.V. world and Palaces are built on top of them, and shadows escape into them through that connection (in 5 a distorted person opens a big enough hole into the evil side of the collective unconscious and the negative space expands over and makes a palace there where shadows flow through too). The world of velvet is where Philemon lives (and where the velvet room is located, is smaller than the other one, as it is made up of the positives of the collective unconscious), while Nyarlathotep's part is made up of the negatives in the collective unconscious. P3 Protag could manifest there, as the place the seal is located is built out of negative emotions on top of Nyarlathotep's world and therefor is connected to it. Philemon pulled them over before when they were in danger as they were connected it is easy to it. The way it is constructed also shows something about the owner (like usual) Philemon see's humans as important and collectively, so his world is an entire place covered in something valuable (velvet). Nyarlathotep see's all human's as individual and distant, like stars in space, sometimes you can't even see them, some are black holes that consume others etc. but they can come together to burn bright and visibly (they do at end, not that he thinks they can). That's the gist of it. I hope that makes sense.If you made it here thanks for reading all of this, I really apricate it. If you have any questions or something is unclear leave a comment and I'll get to it when I can, or just tell me what you thought of it. Sorry for any grammar errors this took way longer than I wanted, and it is very late.