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The rain of blood had stopped as suddenly as it had started.
In a way, the fact that something like this started had not been entirely unexpected to the experienced Persona users in Tokyo. Psychotic breakdowns, mental shutdowns, Phantom Thieves, escalating over the year followed by the political explosion that was Shido's confession, and the utterly inexplicable indifference by the population, all of it felt like there was something working toward a climax of the supernatural kind. And all of them had lived through one of those before.
Except this time, they were clueless as to what was happening, despite their efforts. All were hindered of course. Yu and Yosuke found that college was a lot less forgiving than high school, and even Naoto found that her triple major was challenging her. Akihiko and Chie were kept busy as cadets, and their instructors took a dim view of someone involved with the police getting their noses into the politically charged mess.
That politically charged mess bound the Shadow Operatives and their frustrated leader hands and feet. Between the politicians that had been in league with the conspiracy and the politicians that believed the Shadow Operatives to be in league with the conspiracy, they were unable to do anything, except endure the complaints of the few politicians that did trust them that they weren't doing anything.
Mitsuru's mood had been foul this last year.
But December had ended that. Exams ended, the police's reputation couldn't really get any worse and political pressure fragmented. And of course, things were getting way out of hand. They'd been trying to catch up, sharing notes and comparing information. They figured they were getting somewhere, nothing proven, but some good hypotheses. And the sensation that something terrible was about to happen.
So while they hadn't expected a rain of blood and towers of bone to suddenly erupt in Tokyo while the afternoon commute went about its business undisturbed, they were mentally prepared enough that they lost little time panicking, and immediately grouped up, and headed to Shibuya, which seemed the centre of the disturbance. The fact that their Personas suddenly were within easy reach confirming that this had something to do with, as Chie described it, 'the weird stuff'.
They were ready. Weapons discreetly in duffel bags, preliminary tactics agreed upon and their hearts prepared for anything.
And then it stopped. There was as little warning for the end as for the beginning. Their Personas returned to their normal, inactive state. If not for the fact that all of them had shared the vision, the indifferent crowds would be enough to make one doubt one's sanity.
“What the hell?” Yosuke cursed as they arrived at Shibuya.
Chie looked around. “It's all gone! Aigis, can you detect anything?” Chie was still holding a battle stance, getting a few amused looks.
Aigis looked around in a meticulous pattern. “No recent structural damage, no remnants of blood. No bone fragments. No other anomalies detected. The disturbance has completely vanished.”
“Keep on your guard.” Akihiko scowled, looking around. “Maybe they're trying to lull us into a fall sense of security.”
As snow started to fall, the group started to scout around, trying to find any clues. Naoto gave Yu an inquisitive look. “You don't seem to be all that worried, Yu.”
The aspiring teacher smiled. “I've got a good feeling about this. This thing reminds me of the fog in Inaba. And we know there's been threats like these before, right Mitsuru?”
Mitsuru gave Yu a side-eye. “So there have been, and so I fear there always will be. I fail to see what is so reassuring about that.”
“There will always be people to stand up and deal with it. Perhaps this time it wasn't us. And I know how we felt after we saved the world. So, maybe there's some other very tired but relieved folks out there.”
…
When Sae found Ren Amamiya he was leaning against the wall, flakes of snow settling in his dark hair. They went unnoticed. His face was pale, and he was gazing off in the middle distance. One hand was rubbing his temple, the other dangled by his side, phone in hand.
She got close to him and he looked up slowly, and gave her a wan smile. “Thanks for coming Niijima-san.”
She nodded curtly. The last days had been tense, and his expression did little to reassure her. “Amamiya-kun. Is Makoto alright?”
“Makoto is fine,” he immediately said, and Sae relaxed. “We're all safe. It was frightening but we made it out.”
“I'm glad to hear it,” The prosecutor said with forced calm. “There were some disturbing sights here. I was afraid something terrible had happened.”
There was a pause. “It was close. But we managed to prevent the worst from happening. However... our mission to change the hearts of the people of Tokyo failed.” He shook his head. “Their desires are
too strong. We have no chance.”
Another silence, interrupted by the chatter and excited shouts about the first snow. “I see,” Sae said. “I know what kind of risks you are willing to take, so if you say it can't be done...” She sighed. “Thank you for trying. I was going to ask you to perhaps turn yourself in, to make sure we can properly prosecute Shido and his accomplices. But if popular opinion remains indifferent, then I doubt it's worth your freedom.”
“There is another way,” Ren said, with more life in his voice suddenly. “Because we failed, we still have our powers.” He gave her a steady look. “If you give us the names, and information about the people, we'll get you confessions. We'll hunt them all down.”
“You... you're asking me to work with confessions that I know are forced?”
“At least you'd know them to be true. I've seen how the sausage is made, Niijima-san.”
Sae looked away. She could remember the drugged, beaten kid she'd hidden in her car. “I want to be better than that. I want to prevent that kind of thing from happening. I want to get away from it.”
“They'll win, Niijima-san. And we'll lose.” Her gloom evaporated, her heart quickened. “They've got all the cards, and they're not playing by the rules. And nobody is left to care about the rules anyway. I want to win this one.”
Their eyes stayed fixed on one another. Finally her eyes hardened, her lips turned into a thin line. “Very well, Joker.” She said with finality. “All in then. But if we're doing this, we're doing this properly. I'll give you names, and you tell me when you're going in. We cannot afford any mistakes. We'll have to run this perfectly.”
Ren nodded, his smile widening a bit. “Hah, you and Makoto really are sisters. It's a promise. We'll clean this up. We won't let them bring ruin to Japan. Oh, and on a personal note. When you have the time. The cops who drugged and tortured me. I'd like their names.”
Sae nodded. “And you'll get them. But all in time, Joker. They're small fry. Probably don't even know any names. We'll clean them up in time.” She gave him an evaluating look. “Anyway, take a rest, spend time with your friends tomorrow. You look tired. Day after tomorrow, we start work. If you're going to meddle in the world of adults, I'm going to stop treating you as kids.”
Ren nodded and smiled. “Sounds good. Looks like the Phantom Thieves aren't going away any time soon.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A month passed.The same seven that had grouped up at 'Red Christmas', as Yosuke had dubbed it, gathered at a restaurant overlooking Shibuya. While they waited for Naoto, who'd called them there, Yosuke was in the middle of explaining some of the ideas his course had given him.“... so there's ways that a store like Junes can actually help a tourist town like Inaba. We just gotta buy some samples of the most popular stuff from some specialist shop and set them up with us, referring them to their address. It won't work for every shop, but for a lot of them, the small shops and Junes can actually synergize rather than directly compete, because that direct competition kills the small stores but in the long term damages the town, and Junes' own prospects.”When he briefly fell silent to drink a sip of soda, Chie gave him a teasing grin. “Did you just use 'synergize' unironically?”Akihiko clenched his fist dramatically. “Damn, they got to him.”Yu reached out his hand. “No, Yosuke, I know you're in there somewhere, fight it!” Yosuke responded by throwing a piece of bread at his head.Mitsuru sipped some tea. “Please don't mind these people Hanamura-kun. I'm glad to see you're taking to your studies with ambition and diligence. I'd be interested to see how you'd turn that into a concrete plan of action.”“Is this how flirting happens among their kind?” Chie stage whispered to Akihiko.“Mitsuru-san is simply very dedicated to her job,” Aigis added helpfully. “Why, sometimes, even minutes after a combat operation, she'll be looking at spreadsheets.”“I have responsibilities, Aigis!”“Oh, that reminds me of the SEES days. You know, once she...” Akihiko started.“Forgive me, I'm late,” Naoto said, arriving.“Ah, Naoto. Good you're here. Now we can get to business,” Yosuke said with relief.Chie grinned. “Yosuke's all about business.”Naoto looked a bit confused but sat down. “Ah... yes. So, I gathered us to discuss our findings from the last month, and consider our next steps.”Chie spoke up first. “Eh, it's kind of obvious I guess but there's been no more weird blood rain. After Christmas Eve there were a few reports about people having panic attacks mentioning blood rains, but everyone figures they just had too much to drink.”Akihiko spoke up. “No more mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns. It looks like Shido was the one behind them. Whatever way he had to cause them, his accomplices don't have it any more.”“We are likely talking about a 'whoever'. More particularly Akechi Goro.” Mitsuru said. “I had to call in favors, but I managed to get Shido's confession. He doesn't know the details, but Akechi could go into people's subconsciousness and influence, or kill, a version of them. The former caused psychotic breakdowns and the latter mental shutdowns.”“It is highly likely this version is a Shadow of the person. Assuming Akechi Goro did kill shadows, then the mental shutdown state is irreversible, unlike the Apathy Syndrome. No reports of people having suffered mental shutdown recovering is known,” Aigis said, letting the sentence die with sad finality.There was a moment of silence, broken by Yosuke. “At least if they can get the list of people who were driven into Psychotic Breakdowns, those people can go free, right? Anyway, I eh... looked into Goro Akechi because he was busy with the Phantom Thief thing. He vanished. Apparently, his last public appearance was a TV show, and get this, it was just a few days before the Calling Card to Shido appeared. Huh... you'd expect a celebrity like that to make some waves when he vanishes.”“You think the Phantom Thieves took him out?” Chie asked.“What? No. The Phantom Thieves never killed anyone. Maybe they eh... stopped him and he fled?” he finished, somewhat unsure of where to take that.“I have a personal interest in finding him. I'm not too concerned with my reputation, but to have my 'heir' turn out to be a murderer is not exactly pleasant,” Naoto said with a slight scowl.“Let's wait till we know more,” Yu said. “We don't have all the pieces. Barely enough to make a corner, really.”Akihiko nodded. “Anyway, we were talking about the Phantom Thieves. They sure as hell haven't gone quiet.”Aigis nodded. “Ten confirmed targets in the last month. All of them related to Shido's conspiracy.”Chie and Akihiko gave each other a look as they'd both tasted something foul. “Two more, but the police haven’t been as loud about those.” Akihiko finally said.Everyone gave them a look. Chie took over. “Two investigators resigned. They were involved in the Phantom Thief investigation. Interrogated the one they caught that supposedly committed suicide. No relation with Shido, but they admitted to forcing confessions with drugs and violence. They're arrested but it's being kept quiet.”Akihiko banged the table. “Pieces of shit. They're supposed to defend people.”Naoto nodded. “Agreed, but interestingly, this is a change in the Phantom Thieves' MO. Not only do their targets come in rapid succession, but they are all related to the same crime. Up until Shido, their targets had months between them, and were unrelated.”Yosuke raised his hand. “Well, not exactly. I mean, their big targets have, but if you look at the Phansite, there's 'smaller' fish they handled. They're not as easily verified. But in those cases, there's usually a few of them on the same day. “Chie gave a bit of a smirk. “Trust the Phanboy to know.”Yosuke gave an offended look. “Hey, I was just investigating. Don't get all upset because someone is picking up the slack for the police.”Akihiko opened his mouth to say something when Yu intervened. “Let's not have this discussion again. The Phantom Thieves have changed tactics. It might simply be because the United Future Party seemed to plan to continue where Shido left off, it might be a personal grudge, it might have a different reason. We don't know much about the Phantom Thieves at all.”Naoto pondered. “Could the Liberal Co-prosperity Party be involved? They are the main victim of the UFP conspiracy.”Mitsuru shook her head. “If they had, I would have expected at least some of them to be ready to take advantage. They were as blind-sided as anyone else, I'm sure. They haven't even started to put themselves forward as providing the next prime minister, despite the UFP's collapse.”“Yeah, it's been a long while now since the election. People are even talking about having that Toranosuke guy who's been giving speeches become the prime minister. He's been one of the only ones stepping up,” Yosuke said.Akihiko rolled his eyes. “Alright, enough politics. We gotta hear about that every day in the news.”Naoto spoke up. “Do we? That is the other thing I wanted to bring up. How much media attention has there actually been? A newly formed party overthrows decades of political establishment, only for their leadership to confess, under mysterious influence, to a year of conspiracy and outright terrorism. Television, radio, newspapers: they barely speak of it, and when they speak of it it's like it's an interesting tidbit, rather than the biggest political crisis of Japan since the war.”Yu nodded. “And it's not just the news. Even before Red Christmas, people barely seemed to react to Shido's confession in Tokyo.”“Huh, just in Tokyo?” Chie said.Naoto nodded. “When one is in Tokyo, it can seem like the world. But yes, outside of Tokyo, reactions have been far more outspoken. There have been protests, counter-protests, even a few riots. And local news sources have been far more agitated about the state of things.”Yosuke frowned. “And because Tokyo based news sources don't report it, barely anyone in Tokyo knows about it.”Akihiko followed up. “And if they did, they probably wouldn't care much.”Mitsuru nodded. “I've spoken to foreign contacts, and all of them are extremely alarmed about the state of Japan.”Aigis spoke up. “But you used the past tense when referring to protests. Indeed, scanning these last weeks, there has been a noticeable diminishing in both political activity and political reporting outside of Tokyo.”“Things aren't quite as crazy, but there is still no new prime minister, and scandals have continued to come to light,” Yu said.“Could just be scandal fatigue?” Chie said. “Maybe with all the crazy stuff people are just, checking out of news?” Even she seemed to doubt that suggestion.Naoto took out some papers. “I too considered this. This situation is unprecedented, so it is difficult to say what reactions should be. I started to investigate something unrelated.” She showed the papers. “These are the traffic violations per district for the last months. I made a colour coded map to illustrate it.”There was some silence as people looked at the maps.Yu spoke first. “It's intensifying. And spreading.”Naoto nodded. “And the center is right here. Shibuya. Part of the reason I asked us to come here is because the view we have.” She pointed out the window. The rest of the group looked. Everyone except Mitsuru and Aigis expressed their shock in various ways.“I am not detecting anything out of the ordinary, Naoto-san.” Aigis said with some confusion. “Nobody seems to be doing anything unexpected.”A thin smile. “I suppose you might not have walked there as often. Here's a picture of Shibuya in normal circumstances.”“Ah....”And Mitsuru and Aigis too gave the famous Shibuya Square a worried look. It was a busy day, with crowds moving to and fro.Despite the bustle, not one of them strayed of the sidewalk or crosswalks.…A few weeks ago, Ryuji had met Takeishi in a restaurant during a Track meeting. Takeishi had dropped from the team. He didn’t have the talent, it wasn’t his place, he’d said. Ryuji had started to protest, but no actual arguments had come out He’d stammered some goodbyes and had taken off.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It was surprisingly easy for Chie and Akihiko to get a meeting with the acting director of the Special Investigation Unit. But she was an imposing presence, and also had been working hard on finding cops on the take in the police force. Most people probably tried to avoid getting on her radar. And of course, the police were as vulnerable to the indifference going around as anyone else.So the two cadets were standing rather stiffly at attention in their uniforms in Sae Niijima office.“Thank you for your time, Niijima-san.” Chie said. She'd lobbied for Naoto or Mitsuru to be around for this, but they had their own leads to follow, and her and Akihiko’s status as cadets made them the best candidates for contacting the woman who'd lead the investigation into the Phantom Thieves and mental shutdowns both.“You have five minutes to have something more important to say than this report,” she said curtly, her eyes on the screen of her laptop.Chie was a bit taken aback by the cool air; Akihiko though stepped forward. “We'd like information about the Phantom Thieves and Shido's plans. We're looking into it!” he said, with the usual determination that was his wont.Sae's eyes didn't stray from her screen. “You're planning to make a name for yourself catching the Phantom Thieves? Perhaps you should finish the academy before trying to outdo the entire Japanese police force.” Akihiko's expression froze on his face.“It's not about reputation.” Chie spoke up in her friend’s defense. “There's... weird things going on, and we need to find out what's causing it. And the Phantom Thieves might know more. Or maybe they're behind it.”“Hmhmm...” Sae said, continuing to read. “I know you two are not children, so you do realize how immature this request sounds. Who do you think you are requesting sensitive information like this, based on 'weird things?’ I know things are weird and tense. That is why I don't want untested cadets poking their noses around.”The two cadets exchanged a look, then Chie took a deep breath. “I was in Inaba during the Murder cases. So I... have experience with weird things. I think we could do things that other policemen can't.”This at least got her a glance from Sae. “Hm. So, you know a fair thing about those murders hm? What can you tell me about the killer. His methods. His motives? According to his testimony.”“Tohru Adachi, a police detective. He had the power to push people into televisions. There, they would be confronted by their shadows and killed. His first victim was Mayumi Yamano. He confronted her about her affair and got violent. He accidentally pushed her into the TV. Soon after she was found on an antenna. His next victim was Saki Konichi, the high schooler that found the body. He called her in for another interrogation and deliberately threw her into the TV.” Chie’s voice tensed a bit. “After that, he manipulated Taro Namatame into throwing people into the TV, based on the 'midnight channel phenomenon'. His motives were... boredom. He thought of the whole thing as a game. The murder of Kinshiro Morooka...”Sae raised her hand, now definitely not looking at the screen anymore. “That's enough. You know a lot about a file that's highly classified. And some things that aren't in the file.” She looked at Akihiko. “And you, were you also in Inaba?”“No, but I was in Tatsumi Port Island in 2009. I was... similarly involved.”“Ah, the Cult of Nyx and the Apathy Syndrome.” She nodded. “I don't quite have that memorized enough to test you on it, but I suppose you vouch for each other?” They nodded. She sighed and closed her laptop. “Then this is going to be longer than the five minutes I planned for this.” She gave them a very attentive look. “So, could you be more specific about the 'strangeness' you saw?”Akihiko spoke up. “The indifference of the population to everything that's going on. The way everyone's just... doing what they're supposed to do, not more. And eh, Satanoka-san, some friends and I all had this vision of a rain of blood on Christmas Eve.”Chie looked worriedly at Akihiko. “Eh, we're also saying that? Yeah. We totally saw that, and then it vanished.”Sae gave them a measuring look. “Clearly you're not doing this to advance your career. I would be calling for a drug test and psych evaluation right now, if I hadn't seen the same thing.” The two cadets' face lit up.“So, you'll help us?” Chie asked.“I'll have you help me, cadets,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “Here is the situation. I'm aware that things are bizarre. I'm also aware that the Tokyo Police force still has an unknown amount of people that are corrupt and unreliable. And those who aren't corrupt are affected by what is going on. They're good for keeping an eye on traffic and finding truants, and that's it. The Conspiracy that was begun by Shido: I need to root it out. Completely. It's entirely possible they have started this as some way to make the people more accepting of his rule. Until I take them out of the game, completely, I cannot be sure who's on my side. The Phantom Thieves are criminals, and I will take care of them in time. But they are also assisting me in doing this. So they're not highest among my priorities.”Akihiko looked uncomfortable. “But to use their confessions is a bit....”“We do not have the luxury of pickiness,” she said sharply. “This conspiracy is an existential threat to the Japanese democratic system. Trust me, all the people who will be dragged in front of the judge will have plenty of evidence to go along with their testimonies. No innocent is going to jail. What I would have you do is to see if you can track down one of them by the name of Dr. Genma Watanabe. He was Shido's main expert in Cognitive Psience, and has gone into hiding. I suspect he's hiding from the Phantom Thieves more than the police. Calling cards have been showing up on several forms of media. He should have answers. Possibly he's responsible. And your background means you'll likely be able to find out.” She opened the laptop again, put in an usb stick, and tapped the keys rapidly.“Here are the files we have on him. I’ll give you my number When you find him, you call me. And I'll make sure there's people to pick him up. Am I understood?”“Yes sir.” The two of them saluted and left.“Man, good thing we didn't take Mitsuru with us.” Akihiko grinned at Chie as they left. “I don't think two of those in the same room would have ended well.”…A few weeks earlier, Ann had managed to get a modeling spot that she and Mika had been competing for. When she had gloated a bit, Mika had been indifferent, saying that she made enough money from the jobs she had gotten to earn a living. Ann had fallen silent and just left.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Naoto hadn't alerted Kosei High School that she was coming. It was far easier to say no on the phone that in person, and calling ahead gave people time to prepare what they want to say. Being polite and being a good detective were sometimes at odds. She'd prepared a story. Usually, just claiming you had gotten permission over the phone worked. Few people wanted to risk the drama of blocking a colleague's invitation because they hadn't been informed. And fame helped.The story was never needed. She'd entered, explained that she was here to look into the vanishing of Goro Akechi and had simply been allowed inside. The strange effect on people was assisting her now. However, finding good information was a lot more difficult.Not that people didn't know him. Everybody knew 'the Detective Prince,’ and several of the female students mentioned the confessions left in his shoebox, which was unpleasantly nostalgic. Apparently, unlike Naoto, Goro Akechi had taken the time to personally and tactfully reject each one.But despite all that, not one of them seemed all that concerned over his disappearance. They assumed he had police work which gave him dispensation. Not one of them knew anything Naoto didn't already know. But half the trick of being a detective was simply continue to search. If you knew where the clue was, you wouldn't be searching for it.And she found it: Naoyo Makigami. Champion of the Kendo-team, despite his rather timid behaviour. “I don't know him very well myself, but you could ask Yusuke. I mean, Kitagawa Yusuke. The two of them hung out after school sometimes.”“Ah? That is notable. I heard Akechi was rather private.” Naoto nodded.“Yes, Yusuke's my best friend, but he doesn't have all that many people he gets along with in school. So I took notice. I'm happy about it. Both could use an extra friend.”“When did they start to hang out after school together?”“It was November. I remember because it was shortly before the report about the Phantom Thieves.” He said, eyes downcast.“You are a proponent of them,”“They helped the both of us. They helped a lot of people,” he said with a sad smile.“Could I speak with Yusuke?” Naoto said, her eyes bright with purpose.“He wasn't in class today. He's been missing classes since...”“Makigami-kun, I'm sorry, but Akagi-sensei asked if you could come to the faculty room. It sounded urgent.” A demure looking, brown haired student bowed politely.“Oh, I should go then. Thanks, Togo-san.” The student rose. Naoto almost spoke up, but held her tongue. Causing a fuss right now might have people ask questions about her presence here.“Good day, I am Hifumi Togo. Are there any questions you would like to ask me, Shirogane-san?” The girl said.Naoto gave a strained smile. “Were you familiar with Goro Akechi, Togo-san?”She shook her head. “I'm afraid not. He was a pleasant, but closed person.”“And did you know Yusuke Kitagawa?”Again a demure shake. “He is in art class. I'm afraid our paths don't cross that often.”Naoto nodded. “Ah, thank you. I think I should wait until Makigami-kun is free to speak to me.”The demure smile didn't waver a bit. “Makigami-kun and Kitagawa-kun had a difficult year. I would ask that you leave them be.”“I understand your concern, but I'm dealing with a missing person case,” Naoto said. “You know that Goro Akechi has vanished.”She nodded. “Of course. But such a matter is best left to the police, I feel.”“I am often an adviser to the police. I've been involved in several cases, and considering the nature of the missing person, I have taken an interest,” Naoto insisted.“And is your presence in our school part of a police investigation?”No sense in trying to further that bluff. “Not yet,” she said, giving her a steely gaze. “But there is something going on, and I know I'm on the right track. For the sake of everyone's safety, I must speak with...”And that's how far she got before the girl suddenly dropped all pretense of politeness and pleasantry, and silenced her with an imperious glare. “You forget yourself, track hound!” She called in a loud voice that drew stares. “A dog with pedigree you might be, but you are a dog yet. And you are in the house of Kosei's Star, digging your holes under its baleful gaze! Beware your nose not taste the peacock's claws and beak!”“Eh.... I....”“Begone from here! You are not on your leash, and have no business in these sacred halls! Lest I will call Law's Guardians to have you dragged to a kennel! I cast you out of this place!”Everyone in the hallway was staring. Naoto did the only possible action:pulled her hat over her eyes, mumbled an apology and left the school as quickly as she could.…Yusuke had brought a painting to another exhibition during the last few weeks. He was proud of it, but when Kawanabe saw it, he said it wasn’t pretty. Yusuke had tried to explain the deeper meaning, but Kawanabe had been unmoved. People liked to look at pretty things, and the exhibition was full of beautiful paintings that were pleasant to look at. Yusuke had fallen silent, and withdrawn from the exhibition.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Mitsuru and Aigis made their way to the Diet building. The theory that the current state of affairs was a gambit by Shido to make the population more pliable, and had kept rolling even after his fall was a plausible one. In which case the files in his office might contain hints to it. Not all of them would have been handed to the police. There was a lot of red tape before an elected official's files could be handed over, and the police hadn't really been in a rush in the initial run. Possibly a lot of evidence had been destroyed, but they had to try.But while Mitsuru's name, connections, and force of personality could get her past the first line of defense in the bureaucracy, once she got farther in, she met with a frustrating reluctance to give her an answer. Clerk after clerk passed the buck to the next. Normally, Mitsuru could have made some phone calls to speed things up, but her relations with the Japanese government, always shaky, had been damaged. And of the contacts she had, almost all of them had either lost their recent election, or worse, attached themselves to Shido. The few she had left weren't taking her calls.“If you cannot give me access to those files, then get me someone who can!” she said, her voice cold and authoritative. It usually worked, but in this case, the clerk just repeated, except sounding more cowed and intimidated.“I... I cannot do such a thing. B... but if you deliver a written r... request we can see...” And then the phone rang. “Ah... ex... excuse me.”Mitsuru was taking the opportunity of the interruption to calm herself down. Dealing with politics was always the least favourite part of her job.The clerk hung up the phone. “Councilman Toranosuke asked if you'd like to come to his office to discuss your information request.”Very shortly thereafter, the duo found themselves in the newly elected representative's office. After some brief pleasantries, Mitsuru went straight for the point.. “ I am looking to gain access to the files of Masayoshi Shido. We feel they may contain information that is needed to deal with a looming threat.”The man's expression turned serious. “That is within my ability to grant you. But I'm not sure if I should.”Mitsuru's scowled slightly. “There is much at stake here. What do you want from me to have you grant me access?”“Oh, heavens no. I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I wasn't trying to lobby for favours. I simply wonder if it is the right thing to do. I don't know exactly how Shido managed to do what he has done, but that is information I do not feel should be freely available. Even giving the police access to them, beyond the need for his trial, is something we are wary of.”“Oh... I see. My apologies. I have not always had the best of impressions of people in your position. I agree that this is sensitive information. But I am more than simply the leader of the Kirijo Conglomerate. Have you been made aware of the Security Department, Shadow Response Unit?” Mitsuru asked.Toranosuke shook his head. “I'm afraid not. I've been quite far from the halls of power for a good many years.”“We are an unofficial organization working with the police. Our objective is dealing with certain abnormal creatures that cannot be dealt with by conventional weapons, and cannot be found by conventional investigation. Shido's conspiracy has entered our area of expertise, and we are worried there might be some threats that need resolving.”That certainly got his attention. “A very bold claim. I'll spare us both the time spending saying that there is no such thing, but I will ask if you have any evidence to support this? It doesn't sound like there is paperwork about these matters?”Aigis stood. “I assume this is my cue.” She presented her hands, letting the outer layer open, revealing the gleaming machinery inside. “I am Aigis, and I am a 5th Generation Anti-Shadow weapon, a member of the Shadow Operatives and Mitsuru-san's friend. There are more demonstrations I can give, but I feel I would be even less discreet than I am now.”Mitsuru smiled. “I am usually more secretive about this, Toranosuke-san. But we are in exceptional situations. Can I count on your assistance?”It took a while for Toranosuke to gather himself after that. “We do live in exceptional times. Thank you for your straightforwardness, Kirijo-san. I shall return the favour to you. I do not think I should give you the information you seek.”The smile vanished. “What?”“This is no personal slight. But we have found ourselves in this situation because of a conspiracy of powerful individuals with police cooperation using supernatural situations to advance themselves. And now I am asked to give the knowledge involved to, well, another powerful person with connections to the police.”“You insult me, Toranosuke-san,” Mitsuru said sharply.“I do not wish to imply that you have any intentions to follow in Shido's footsteps. But I believe that as a politician, I should take responsibility for matters. The previous administration seems to have been content to pass the responsibility of difficult cases to others. Whether it is to future generations, or to shadowy and secretive organizations. And I have promised to stop this.”“Commendable, but you do not have the capability to deal with this,” Aigis protested.“Then we should seek to gain the capability. And you might help us with that. But as it is, you are an unaccountable entity. An 'unofficial' organization within the police is not a government agency, it is a conspiracy. I do not intend to pursue you. There are far bigger problems facing Japan right now, but I do not think I would be keeping to my principles if I used the position to which I was elected to give you dangerous information.”“This 'conspiracy' of ours has saved countless of lives. And one of its greatest problems has been politicians hamstringing us.”“Tell me, Kirijo-san. Were the Shadow Operatives already operating in 1999 on Tatsumi Port Island?”There was a moment of freezing silence. Mitsuru's eyes narrowed. “No. They were not. Fixing mistakes like that is why they were founded.”He nodded. “Laudable. But wouldn't you say that if the government had been more busy 'hamstringing' that organization, it would be better? I have a duty, Kirijo-san. Let me make you a counter-proposal. If you pass me the information I need, then I will work to have the government take action, using the information from Shido's data. Possibly I will even ask for your assistance, but under government auspices.”“You are asking me to hand over our own information to you, after a man like Shido almost took the highest position in the land, and while we still do not have a cabinet selected,” Mitsuru said.The man smiled. “We are not at our best, are we? But we are the elected representatives of the people. I am not without sympathy for those who try to do good outside the borders of the law, Kirijo-san. But as a matter of principle, I will not help you.”Aigis spoke. “I ask you to reconsider. The threat we have is affecting the minds of Japan, and spreading rapidly. There is no time to re-establish a new working relationship between the Shadow Operatives and the government of Japan now.”“Principles that are abandoned when there is a threat are barely principles at all. I'm sorry that I have worsened your day. I will give you my phone-number, so if there are urgent matters that you feel should get an immediate government response, you can call me. But for now, as you implied, our government is in shambles, and I have the responsibility to do my bit to rebuild it.”Mitsuru stood stiffly. “Thank you for your time, Toranosuke-san.”…At some time in the last few weeks, Makoto had been studying with Eiko. Eiko had said she intended to go to college. When Makoto had excitedly asked what she wanted to do, her friend had indifferently answered that she’d just go with what her parents chose for her. Makoto’s smile had faltered, and she’d gone back to silently studying.

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Yosuke looked up in dismay at the bar. When he'd contacted Ichiko Ohya and she’d told him to meet in a Shinjuku bar, he'd been intrigued. I mean, it wasn't like he was planning to do anything, but it was nice and gritty. Like he was a cool secret agent meeting a contact in a club or something. But it was a more eh... specialized place. He looked around self consciously before going up the stairs, glad he was alone at least.The inside was, honestly, pretty restrained. It was very red and purple all over the place. He tried to look around to find the reporter without making eye contact with anyone. Turns out she noticed him first though. “Oh, Hanamura-kun! Over here, over here!”She was in her twenties, dressed in tight jeans and a t-shirt, sitting at the bar with a glass in front of her, across from the barkeep lady. He looked nervously around to see if anyone noticed him, but this early in the afternoon, there were few patrons, and none of them even looked over. Once you paid attention it was kinda creepy how often you noticed people not caring.“Hey there, Ohya-san. Thank you for taking your time to speak to me,” he said.The woman behind the bar gave him a look. “Hm, so this contact of yours actually exists and isn't just a reason for you to drink early. And he's even college-aged. Progress.”“Hey, hey, this is a business meeting! He's a potential source, okay? Quit riding my ass so much, Lala-chan. Can we have some drinks? We do business over drinks, right? You okay with me picking the booze?”Lala-chan gave him a dry look. “I recommend fruit juice.”“Pft, come on, Lala-chan. He isn't a kid. College students know how to let loose.”Yosuke grinned. He wasn't a complete lush, but he'd been to some parties. “Yeah, I'll have what she's having. We'll share a bottle.”Lala-chan rolled her eyes. “They never listen. Alright Ohya, two glasses and a bottle of the usual. I'll bring it to your seat.”They sat at a table which was pretty isolated from the rest of the bar. With the drink brought, Ohya eagerly filled the glasses and raised them to him. “Alright, to meeting new people, bottom's up.” She drank the glass to the last drop, and he followed suit. He'd been getting himself ready to keep from coughing up something strong, but the drink was actually kind of sweet. Maybe a bit girly, but nice all the same.He put the empty glass down and Ohya grinned, filling them up. “Alright, now that we got properly introduced, let's talk biz. You wanted to ask me some questions about Phantom Thieves, because you think something big is happening.”Yosuke smiled and took another drink. “Yeah. Thanks for talking to me again. I'm sure with them so busy you've got plenty to do.”Ohya grimaced. “You'd think so, but it's actually pretty quiet. Not much demand for Phantom Thieves news these days. Managed to finish an old project of mine. Few months ago I probably wouldn't have time, but these days, I can spare you a few minutes. So, what's the scoop?”“So eh, me and some friends noticed some weird things have started happening these last few months. People acting weird, not really reacting as much to all the political shit in Tokyo. And we thought it could have something to do with all the Phantom Thief stuff. And you wrote a ton of articles about them. I read them all.”She laughed. “Aw, bit of a Phanboy? But a curious one eh?”Yosuke took a drink and chuckled. “Me and my friends are known to get our noses into business.”“Man after my own heart. Alright, I'll level with you.” Her face turned serious. “I don't actually have a direct link to the Phantom Thieves. But hey, I can see if someone knows something. And I might even have a lead for you.”Yosuke grinned. “Awesome. We could definitely use some of them.”“But you're not getting it for free. Like I told you, I've got nothing but time these days. I need a new story to dig into. So I'm going to want you to keep me posted on what's happening. And, before I tell you my lead, I'd like to know a bit more at what you've been up to. Bit of an exchange of information.”Yosuke paused and nodded. “Ah, right. I think... I might have one. But it's a pretty weird one. I'm not sure if you'll believe it.”Ohya grinned. “Verifying the stories is my job. Make it interesting, Hanamura-san.” She put a recorder on the table.Yosuke nodded. “Alright then. This was a few years ago in Inaba, during the Antenna-murder case.”And he started telling the story. The edited version of course. TV-world and Persona were left out. But he could talk about the Midnight Channel, everyone could see that, and the kidnappings had happened. And she listened and filled his glass and looked and sounded interested, so he continued talking. It felt good. To talk about the fear, the pain of losing Saki, the worry when people vanished and the relief at finding them and the triumph of finding the killer, and being able to just talk about it to a good listener, even if she probably thought he was making half of it up was good to get it off his chest. And it was of for a good purpose.And then he finishes describing Adachi's arrest, giving her a smile. “I hope that was interesting?”She nodded. “Oh definitely, definitely.” She looked up from her little notebook on which she had scribbled something. “So did you ever find out how Adachi killed those two and hung them up there?”“Oh, no, I suppose the police might know that,” he quickly replied.There was a silence as she looked him in the face with a serious face, as if he had interrupted in the middle of a sentence. Yosuke took another sip.“Alright. So, you found all those kidnapped people. Where did you find hem?” She followed up.“Eh... we... we found them up in the mountains.” He hadn't expected her to take the story that seriously.Again that silence, and her eyes just calmly looking at him. Yosuke was feeling pretty hot. He had to force himself to hold her gaze.“Okay, and then when you found Adachi. I mean, you were a bunch of high schoolers and he was an armed and trained policeman,” She asked.“He was... he was pretty scary. I guess we just got lucky, and I mean, we swarmed him. And one of my buddy's a pretty buff guy. Took on a bunch of bikers, once.”She leaned forward a bit, still giving him a serious look. She wasn't buying it. Then she smiled and finished her glass. “Thank you for the story Yosuke. Definitely enjoyed it.”“Hahah, it's a bit of a weird story isn't it? You probably don't believe me,” he said weakly. His head was a bit fuzzy. He kinda regretted not taking the fruit juice advice now.“Oh, I believe some parts of it. I'll give you a freebie for such a good story, Hanamura-kun. When I'm interviewing someone, the questions people don't give an answer to are sometimes as interesting as the ones they do. That's why I usually don't interrupt a lie.” She grinned widely. “Anyway, I'll give you my story then.”“Yes... thank you,” he said, feeling his face redden a bit, and not just because of the drink. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, but at least he was going to get the story.“Alright. So I been looking into things like the mental shutdowns for personal reasons. And I started looking into some history. Did you ever hear about the Apathy Syndrome?”“Oh... yeah. That was kind of a similar thing, right? About seven year ago?” Yosuke said. He knew when it happened of course. He hadn't heard all the details, but he knew it was where Mitsuru and her friends had gotten involved.Ohya's voice turned serious, and despite her having drunk the same amount of booze as him, her voice was now calm, measured and clipped as she went over the story.“Exactly. Now, seventeen years ago, the Kirijo Group had a research lab in Tatsumi Port Island. The epicentre of the epidemic. There was an incident in 1999, the lab was destroyed and the island ravaged. Several dead, both in the lab itself and the surrounding area. Among the dead was Kouetsu Kirijo, the leader of the group. One of the scientist who died in the incident, Eiichiro Takeda, was held responsible based on a recorded confession. One that would later be revealed to be doctored. Very little investigation took place.”“Under the leadership of Takeharu Kirijo, son of the previous leader, a school was constructed on the ruins, sponsored and pretty much controlled by the Kirijo group: Gekkoukan High school. In 2009, a lot of strange things happened. The Apathy Syndrome, mysterious unexplained murders called for on a 'Revenge Request' website and other oddities. During the year, there were several deaths at the school. Two students, but more importantly the school's director, a man called Shuji Ikutsuki who's previously worked in the research labs and Takeharu Kirijo himself. The two die on the same day. No police investigation ever followed. A few months later, after becoming so severe to completely disrupt the working of the city, the Apathy syndrome vanishes overnight on the 1st of february 2010.”“And now, almost exactly seven years later, we're seeing all the shit's that's been going on. And guess who's currently hanging out in Tokyo and by all accounts swinging her weight around? The new leader, daughter of Takeharu, Mitsuru Kirijo. And she's as mysterious a figure as her father and grandfather. I figure she might know a thing or two about what's going on. But that's risky business.”Yosuke had been listening carefully, then spoke up. “I didn't know all of that, but I don't think it's got something to do with this. I mean, Kirijo-san would have told us.”“You seem to trust her,” she casually said.“Oh yeah, we went through some....” Shit. “I mean... I don't know her that well. I... forget I said anything.”She gave a grin. “Oh, sure, completely forgot anything you just told me about you apparently being a confidant of Mitsuru Kirijo in some way. No worries.” She took another sip. “You're an interesting one, Hanamura-san.”He stood, feeling his head spin briefly. He wasn't drunk but he was definitely tipsy. “I eh... I should go. Thank you for your time Ohya-san.”“Wait...” she called. And when he looked her face was serious. “If you can, tell me one thing. The people with the Apathy Syndrome recovered. What happens now with the mental shutdowns... do they... do you think it'll be the same?”He looked at her. He really should quit showing his hand.“As far as we know, it's not the same. We think that it's irreversible. I'm sorry,” he said.She nodded, looking into the glass. “Thank you. Better to know. Good luck with your search, Hanamura-san.”…A few weeks earlier, Futaba had been chatting online with Kana. Her parents were now treating her well, full of regret for their crimes. But when they discussed school, Kana said she had decided against it. It was hard, she said, and it was easier just to be home and play videogames. Futaba had quickly made up an excuse to go offline.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Yu was kind of worried about how easy it had been to get into Shujin Academy. Just a call to say he was looking to do a few weeks of class as an intern and if he could check out the school, and they said yes. He'd have expected to get a chaperone on him, but the acting principal didn't seem to care all that much. In a school that was plagued by scandal, you'd think they'd have their guard up. But then, it was just another symptom of the problem they were dealing with.There were two leads here. First was of course the Kamoshida case. The first target the Phantom Thieves had picked. There'd been a few other Shujin students targeted for smaller vices, so odds that the Phantom Thieves were in this school were pretty high.And the second one was the administrator for the Phantom Thieves Aficcionado website. Some measures had been taken to protect his identity, but nothing Mitsuru wasn't able to get by. Yuuki Mishima. Second year, and one of the victims of Kamoshida. Definitely a possible candidate.Normally, Yu might first talk with the Student Council President. They tended to be a bit in the know about what was going on, but she wasn't at school apparently. But there was always a standby. As end of school bell rang, he found Shobeya Kisha, the reporter for the school newspaper.“Kisha-san,” he said, with a warm smile. “I am sorry to bother you. I am Yu Narukami. I'm soon to be a teacher, if I manage a few last exams at least, and for my school, I was asked to go and look at a school with a teacher's eye and make a report. Would it bother you if I asked you a few questions? I'll be out of your hair soon, I promise.”The girl gave him a measuring stare, then smiled. “Sure, I'll be glad to, Narukami-sensei.”He gave a chuckle. “Hah, I'll have to earn that title yet. But thank you. How is Shujin doing these days?”“It's been a lot calmer these last months. Very calm actually. Even people that are usually trouble have been behaving. It's almost weird how quiet class is these days,” she said, a little waver in her smile suggesting that the 'almost' was there for appearance’s sake.“It has been odd how calm Tokyo has become, isn't it? With everyone that's going on,” Yu said, and saw her eyes brighten. Not everyone was affected equally it seemed.“Oh, absolutely. Everyone seems to think I'm just imagining things. It must be people are just scandal-tired or something? Maybe everyone's kind of walking on eggshells?” Despite her worried expression her face seemed to light up a bit.For a while they just talked about recent events, the teachers (she didn't badmouth any of them, but mentioned one Kawakami had been a lot more energetic over the summer break) the last Cultural Festival (Akechi had spoken there about the Phantom Thieves? Interesting) the school trip, (Hawaii; Yu voiced his envy, which amused the student to no end) and news about the clubs (there had been some drama about who the new teacher leading the reformed Track team was going to be).And that brought the subject to the track team, and its last teacher. “So, I want to ask about your school that's not really part of my assignment.”She chuckled. “I don't know who the Phantom Thieves are. I probably would have tried to get the 30 million yen if I had done.”Yu laughed along. “I imagine you get that question a lot. It's not totally unrelated, but I was wondering about Kamoshida.”Both of their faces went a good deal more sombre on that subject. “We're not really supposed to talk about him,” She said.“I know. But it's not just being curious. I once had a really bad teacher myself. Not as bad as Kamoshida, but, he's part of the reason I became a teacher. And I can't help but wonder why people who choose to become teachers become like that.” It wasn't a complete lie. When the Kamoshida case had gotten revealed, Yu hadn't cared even a bit about the Phantom Thieves angle of it.The girl pondered and nodded. “Alright. Just, don't go around telling everyone I told you. I don't want to get in trouble. When Kamoshida was hired, it was a really big deal. Olympic athlete becoming a coach for our volleyball team? Everyone was sure we were going to nationals, and there were tons of sign ups for the volleyball team. People commented he was really strict, but everyone thought that was just what top-level training was.”“And then the track team was doing really well. Especially a first years called Ryuji Sakamoto. Looking back on it, Kamoshida was most likely jealous. Okada-sensei was fired, and Kamoshida took over. There were complaints from the track team members, but nothing really happened with them. And then, well…” she bit her lip.“Rumours were going around about Sakamoto-kun's family, and Kamoshida probably started them. Whatever the case, Sakamoto-kun attacked him and Kamoshida broke his leg. It was considered self-defense and the track team was disbanded.”“A high school kid attacks an Olympic athlete and gets his leg broken, and that is self-defence?” Yu's voice was sharp, way too sharp.“Ah, Narukami-san. You're looking a bit scary.”Yu took a deep breath. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't interrupt you. Please, go on.”“Ah... yes. So that's when things started to get worse. There were more training injuries. The female students started to.... look a lot more uncomfortable. He was even rumoured to be.... together with one student, but if you don't mind, I'm not going to name her.”“Of course not.”“So, last spring is when things really escalated. Sakamoto and his new friend, Amamiya, started to look into abuse in the volleyball team. They didn't really get very far. But the next day, one of the members of the girl's volleyball team jumped off the roof. Sakamoto, Amamiya, and Mishima, a member of the volleyball team, stormed to Kamoshida's office. Kamoshida claimed they threatened him and he would have them expelled, but before that, the Phantom Thieves happened.”Yu nodded, “And those three. Did they get punished?”“Oh, no, they weren't. They've been doing well actually. Mishima-kun became a huge fan for the Phantom Thieves. Even after Okumura-san's death, he would always defend them. Otherwise he's a very quiet guy, really. He's quit the volleyball team though. I don't really know what he's spending his time doing.”“Sakamoto and Amamiya are pretty solid friends now. Sakamoto has been seen running again, hanging around with his friend from middle school more, and I even heard he settled things with his old team. Amamiya...” she hesitated for a moment, clearly thinking how she should word something.“Amamiya had some things about his past leaked that gave him a scary reputation. So it's hard for him to make friends in school. But he's not really done anything wrong. He does well in class. He's not member of any clubs but that's not really strange in his situation. There is one thing that's weird, I mean, it's kinda sweet, but also weird. He always brought a cat with him.”“A cat.” Despite the urgency of the situation, Yu couldn’t help but be interested.“Yes. He has it in his school bag as he moves around and in his desk during class. Nobody really says anything because, like I said, he has a scary reputation. I don't think the teachers know but most students kind of do. The classmate sitting behind him swears he heard it meowing at him during exams. He stopped doing it though. Maybe one of the teachers finally noticed. Anyway, he did befriend Niijima-senpai, the student council president, and I think they've been befriending Okumura-senpai too.”“Good to see they've got some senpais to keep them out of trouble,” Yu said, but his mind was racing. “Are they at school today?” he wondered, looking at the students filing through the hallway.“Oh, no, they're absent. They've been... absent a bit lately. Amamiya-kun had some family emergency in November that kept him out of school. I hope they're okay. Mishima-kun is usually at classes though. Oh, there he is, Mishima-kun. Do you have a moment?”A short, dark haired student came over. “Huh, s... sure. What kind I do for you, Kisha-san, sir?” he looked questioningly at Yu.“This is Narukami-san. He's going to become a teacher soon, and he was...”The timid look suddenly turned into a confident grin. “Ah, he wants to hear about the Phantom Thieves? I don't mind telling him about what they did for this school and this country! Maybe he wants to read some of the stuff I've been writing?”Yu smiled. “Ah, maybe later. I was more interested in the students involved. I heard you confronted Kamoshida. That's a brave thing to do, Mishima-kun.”The student smiled, back to timid. “Ah, you know, I didn't really do anything. I was just kind of stammering some things.”“Phantom Thieves did a lot of good, but you're the one who stuck his neck out, weren't you? Together with Sakamoto-kun and Amamiya-kun I heard.”“Oh, they were the real heroes. I just... followed in,” he said with a broader smile but his eyes to the ground.“How are they doing? I mean, it's terrible what happened to them, so when people start missing school, I'm worried. People are so self-centred lately, so I wanna make sure they're alright.”This time, he looked up, and the smile vanished. “Oh, they're fine. No problems really.”Kisha frowned. “Honestly, I'm a bit worried too, Mishima-kun. Even when they're at school, they always seem tired and they're always rushing off. Even Niijima-sempai, and it's always together, so it kind of looks weird.”“I gotta... I gotta get to class.” Mishima suddenly backed away and ran into the classroom.“But... class just ended,” the newspaper club member said in surprise. “I don't know what's up with him. Things have just been weird lately.”Moments later, a teacher left the room, brown hair a bit messy but a determined expression on her face. “Narukami-san, isn't it? I think it's time you quit bothering our students and leave.”“Ah, he... he wasn't bothering me, Kawakami-sensei,” the reporter said, but a look from the teacher shut her down.“I don't care what your reasons are, but these students have been going through a lot. I don't need some meddlesome college student coming here and digging up old hurts and making things worse for people.”“I promise you, I have no intention of...”“Shut up, listen. You're going to leave, now. If I see you here again, I will find what college you go to, and I'll give them a piece of my mind, understand?”Yu's cheeks were red as he had a whole bunch of students' eyes on him, and heard the start of whispering. Kisha quietly distanced herself from him.“I understand, Kawakami-sensei. I apologize for the disturbance.” He gave a bow in apology, and left.…Somewhere in the last few weeks, Haru had gone to talk to interim-president Takakura about her plans to open a café. He answered questions, but discouraged her, telling her that there was no reason for a girl who was already so rich to spend time working to open a small time restaurant. Haru had politely thanked him for his time and ended the meeting.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Somewhere in Tokyo, seven figures appeared out of thin air. Several of them had quite the scowls on their faces.“What effin' shit man, third time we make our way through the Palace, and the Treasure still isn't there.” Ryuji cursed. “This Watanabe guy is seriously pissin' me off.”“Rare spawn bosses are the worst,” Futaba agreed.“I don't get it. I mean, he knows we're coming to steal his twisted desires, obviously, since he's hiding from us. Shouldn't he feel plenty vulnerable right now?” Ann complained.Futaba scowled. “He's one of the people most informed about how it works. He probably believes that it doesn't work if he doesn't see the Calling Card, or knows a Calling Card was delivered. And if he doesn't believe it works, it won't work.”“Don't worry guys. There's always tomorrow,” Haru said with a bright smile. “He can't keep hiding from us forever.”Makoto sighed. “There is, Haru. But we've been pushing ourselves hard lately. Our school work is suffering. And people will start to take notice. But with this message out, we have to check his Palace every day, or we risk losing the opportunity completely.”“Oh come on. Not like anybody is still looking for us!” Ryuji waved it off.“Would you mind terribly not tempting fate quite so much, Ryuji? I think I felt a shiver running down my spine after what you just said.” Yusuke's gave him a dry look.“Too late,” Ren said, still looking at his cellphone. “I just got a whole bunch of messages. We've got problems. Someone's tracking us. Futaba, can we go to your room? I think this might require some 'Open Sesame' if you know what I mean.”Futaba's mood seemed to improve. “Fuhuhuhuhu... some scrubs coming to try to dox Ali Baba? Their browser history is as good as e-mailed to their mother in law.” She rubbed her hands.Ren wasn't entertained as he read further. “I'd wait on crowing victory till you know whose attention we’ve got, Futaba.”…The 'headquarters' of the new investigation was a conference room in one of the Kirijo Group's many companies, right in the middle of Shibuya. There were internet connections, a tv screen and fresh drinks aplenty. Expensively designed leather chairs lined the table.Right now, Mitsuru's laptop was connected to the large screen, looking at the file that Chie and Akihiko had brought with them. “So, this is the Phantom Thieves' current target, Dr. Genma Watanabe. I know of the man. There's not that many people whose research is these areas. He might well be able to tell us more about what's going on here.”Chie grinned. “Great. So, mind telling us about him?”“He was part of a government sponsored research project looking into Cognitive Psience. It was led by a woman named Isshiki Wakaba. This was man was her assistant. By all accounts he is intelligent, diligent, and ambitious. We, that is, the Shadow Operatives, were not directly involved. I generally try to discourage research that might lead into those areas. But the government, I believe, wanted to know more.”“The research was progressing, but two years ago, there was a tragedy. Isshiki threw herself in front of a vehicle, in front of her thirteen year old daughter, and died. When her house was investigated, all her research had been destroyed, and a suicide note was found, suggesting the stress of raising her daughter had led to a nervous breakdown. In truth, this was one of the first cases of mental shutdowns performed by Goro Akechi on Shido's orders.”“The team was disbanded. The establishment had always been controversial, considered by many a waste of money. Dr. Watanabe ended up on Shido's payroll after that. Many of his activities seem to have focused on aiding Shido to train himself to defend himself against abilities to work against him, and to try to find a way to access the 'Metaverse' as it is called. He developed a possible way to halt any intrusions on the psyche by causing a near-death state.”“After Shido's confession, all Dr. Watanabe’s attempts involved trying to gain access to the metaverse. With Goro Akechi missing, the other members of the conspiracy had no way to influence it, and no way to defend themselves. He was not successful, despite ample funding. After Christmas, when the Phantom Thieves started to take out targets again, the funding and pressure on him increased. Until about two week ago. Too many important members had confessed, and the conspiracy fell apart. An arrest warrant was issued for Dr. Watanabe, but he has gone into hiding, along with most of his data and a prototype for a device to access the Metaverse. Three days ago, the Phantom Thieves broadcasted a calling card on all televisions, similar to the method they used to deliver it to Shido himself.”“They have since then done so several other times. Several websites were hacked to display the calling card, and it has appeared in just about every form of media,” Mitsuru continued.Naoto spoke. “That is unusual. The Phantom Thieves usually deliver their calling card only once. Everyone would know about their plans after the first one. I had initially thought the calling cards a way to taunt their target, or to draw attention to their coming confession. But this suggests that it is an important part of their method. One that is not currently working. Possibly, because their target has to see it.”Mitsuru nodded. “I think you are correct. Be that as it may, the man is still at large. He is intelligent but not an experienced criminal. His bank accounts are frozen, and he has not gone to any friends or family.” She sat down. “That is the information we have on him. Most of his recent activities we got from the file Satonaka and Akihiko obtained.”“Kinda came with a mission attached to it, though,” Chie said.“I'm up for the challenge.” Akihiko clenched a fist.“Ugh, more than I got,” Yosuke said, drinking some coffee. “I got information about things you Shadow Operatives already know. I gave her way more information than I wanted.”“I was able to obtain some information, but I was rebuffed very... firmly. Suspiciously so. Hifumi Togo might be a person of interest,” Naoto said.“Wait, did you say Hifumi Togo?” All eyes went to Yosuke, who'd spoken.“You are familiar with her?” Naoto asked.“Oh, yeah, she's the Venus of Shogi! She was on the cover of...”“Yosuke! She's a highschooler!” Chie interrupted. “And do you have to bring this up right now?”“What? No, it's nothing like that! I mean, she's pretty but I don't want to... Anyway, not the point. The point is, her mother got her Heart changed by the Phantom Thieves!”Naoto's eyes grew wide. “Of course. I was so focused on the larger cases that I forgot about the smaller ones.”Yosuke grinned. “I've been following the Phansite for a while now, and she was one of the more visible ones that got posted there.”“Phanboy,” Chie said, but she had a grin on her face.Naoto looked at Yu. “Yu, you said the teacher who denied you access exhibited changed behaviour after the summer break?”“Yes, do you think she had her heart changed?”Yosuke nodded at Naoto. “Not her. But there were some people who were blackmailing a teacher. The teacher wasn't named in the post, but it could have been her.”“Yoshida too might have been aided by the Phantom Thieves. The reveal about Kuromato came at a convenient point for him after so many years,” Mitsuru said.“Possibly,” Naoto said. “Though no confession was involved in this reveal. It was a reporter uncovering it. So, it is likely that at least some of these people are Phantom Thieves or accessories to them.”“If they are Phantom Thieves, it is likely they are later additions to their ranks. I doubt the Phantom Thieves would tolerate members to suffer the...” Aigis started, when Yosuke interrupted.“Oh crap! The reporter!” Everyone looked at him. “Ichiko Ohya. That big Phantom Thief exposé was just after that Chief Editor got his heart changed!” He winced a bit. “If that's so, I'm thinking they know more about us than we want.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Makoto was standing in the centre of the room, looking at the others. One of Futaba's screens depicted several photographs. “So, these are the seven people that are looking into us now. Remember their faces, remember their names. Be extra careful of what you're saying or doing around them.”“Ain't we stressing out over nothing? What are they gonna do? Tell the police?” Ryuji leaned back.Haru looked a bit more concerned. “One of them is Mitsuru Kirijo. She could be a big problem even without the police.”Ren was sitting on a chair balanced precariously on the two back legs, ignoring Makoto's pointed looks. “True, but there's opportunity there too. Right, Futaba? Everything working as it should?”The redheaded hacker cackled. Which was assumed to mean 'yes'.Yusuke leaned against the wall. “They seem to be investigating several angles. They have noticed the shift in the population's cognition. They saw what happened on Christmas Eve.”The leader nodded. “They don't know much about us, but they've clearly gone through enough weird stuff of their own. They might have weird powers themselves. It shouldn't be anything we can't handle. But I want to know more about them.”Makoto nodded. “We've found their social media sites. Futaba, make sure we have full access, Ryuji and Ann, you're in charge of going through them and finding us more information. Yusuke and Ren, you assist me in bringing the information together, Haru, try to find out more about the Kirijo Group.”And so the team started to work, tapping away at computers and laptops, swiping away on smartphones, discussing the results in soft voices. They got an idea of who was pursuing them. Makoto once again stood, papers neatly in hand.“First person of interest: Yosuke Hanamura, age 22, college student majoring Economic Sciences at Tokyo University. Single. In 2011, during the events in Inaba, he was a second year at Yasogami High. He moved to Inaba a few months before the first murder when his father became manager of the new Junes store. Until that time, he did not have many close friends locally, but started befriending Chie Satonaka and Yu Narukami when the first disappearance occurred, namely Yukiko Amagi. After Amagi was recovered, he and Narukami struck up a friendship with her. This pattern repeated several times. Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, Naoto Shirogane. They disappeared, and when they were found they joined this group of friends.. Listening to the recording Ohya has given us, it's pretty clear he knows a lot more about the disappearances than he lets on.”“Second person, Chie Satonaka, age 22, police cadet in Tokyo. Single. Grew up in Inaba, and long time friend of Yukiko Amagi. Also a student of kung-fu. As with Yosuke, she became part of a group of friends that included the kidnapping victims. Also struck up a friendship with Akihiko Sanada a short time after the Inaba murders were solved. The two of them are currently classmates at the Tokyo Police Academy.”“Third person. Yu Narukami, age 22, a student majoring in history with a minor in pedagogy at Tokyo University, set to become a teacher. Single. He arrived in 2011 in Inaba just days before the first murder. His parents moved around a lot. Since they had to be abroad for a long time, they left Narukami in the care of his mother's brother, Ryotaro Dojima, the detective responsible who was investigating the murders.”“Man, that's shady as hell,” Ryuji exclaimed.“You have read the file, have you not, Ryuji? We have a culprit for the crime already,” Yusuke said. “One who was also close to the detective, his partner, and arrived at the same time. Adachi has confessed his crimes.”“A confession doesn't have to mean anything if the cops want you to make one badly enough. They were eager to take that Mitsuo kid's confession and run with it after all,” Ren said. Haru sounded thoughtful. “But if the police wanted to pin the blame on someone, wouldn't they pick anyone else than someone on their own force? It was pretty humiliating for them, wasn't it?”“The file suggests that Adachi was in the position to commit the crimes, and do people mind if I finish?” Makoto said a bit testily. A chorus of 'no Queen's later, she continued. “He was only in Inaba for about a year, but it's notable that he made a large amount of friends there, inside and outside of school and still keeps in contact with them. He was involved in several part-time jobs.”“Reminds me of someone,” Ann said, getting another glare from Makoto for her interruption.“Regardless. Considering one of the kidnapping victims who almost died was Nanako Dojima, Dojima's daughter and Yu's niece, I do not think there is any conspiracy here.” She motioned to the next picture.“This person is someone to be worried about. Naoto Shirogane. Age 21, triple major law, forensics and electrical engineering at Tokyo University. She has, without any complimenting or fawning, a genius-level intelligence. The Shirogane family has a long line of private detectives working with the police, and she has followed in their footsteps. She has solved criminal cases at age 14 as a police consultant. She was the original Detective Prince.”“Wait... prince?” Ann said.“She posed as a male for some time to be taken seriously. That is the least of our concerns. Togo-san managed to get her out of Kosei, and Mishima and Kawakami-sensei will keep an eye on Shujin. What this makes worse is that the Inaba case she helped solve involved mysterious and possible supernatural matters. Adachi's confession involved 'throwing people into a TV' and then showing up dead later. With most investigators, we know they will be hindered by their reluctance to believe the things we do. We cannot assume we'll have this advantage here.”“Moving on, the other three are older, and seem to be a secondary group. Though they were briefly reported in Inaba, they seem to have no connection to that case. Rather, they all have links to the occurrences in Iwatodai in 2009. You’ve all read the information Ohya-san sent us, so I won’t go into detail.”“Akihiko Sanada. 25 years old, single. Police cadet in Tokyo. He was orphaned at birth and grew up in an orphanage with his sister Miki. A fire broke out, and she died. Shortly thereafter he was adopted by the Sanada family. During the events of 2009, he was a third year at Gekkoukan High School and captain of the boxing team. He stayed at the exclusive dorms there. After the events and his graduation, he did not immediately pick up a career or studies. He traveled extensively. In early 2012, he stopped traveling and took a year to prepare for the entrance exam in the police academy. He joined at the same time as Satonaka, and the two of them have been friends since.”“Aigis… age: unknown, single. Assistant to Mitsuru Kirijo.” Makoto looked around. “Most of what we know of her, we know through Toranosuke-san. She is a robot, a free-willed one, if we believe what she says. She was suddenly enrolled as a transfer at Iwatodai High school during 2009, even though nobody really knew where she came from, and stayed at the dorms. She graduated, but after that followed Kirijo.”“And of course, Mitsuru Kirijo. Age 25, single. Leader of the Kirijo Group, a conglomerate with vast economic power all over Japan. Even Okumura Foods is far outstripped by its power. Graduated with a double major in Economics and Management. During 2009, she was a third year and stayed at the exclusive dorms. As both Student council president and daughter of the school’s main sponsor, she had great influence. She was the leader of the SEES extracurricular club, sponsored by the school’s director Ikutsuki himself, and a big mystery, with membership only offered on completely unknown parameters, including ace students and underachievers both.”“After the events of 2009, she graduated high schools and started college. However, we also know that sometime during this time, she must have founded the Shadow Response Unit in collaboration with the Security Department. She is aware of the existence of Shadows, and she tends to ‘resolve’ mysterious problems. While she has influence in the police force, she is generally not popular in law enforcement or in politics. Being powerful, secretive and also a young woman does not make her many friends in the highest circles, despite her name. It is clear she was no friend to the Conspiracy. In fact, many of Shido’s allies were the loudest voices accusing the Shadow Operatives of being involved. As such, the organization spent more time defending itself from accusations than investigating.”She put down her notes. “We need to know more about 2009. Inaba 2012 seems a relatively straightforward case, but there are a lot more people that died and went missing in Iwatodai. Ohya did not manage to get to the bottom of it.” She looked at Futaba. “Perhaps we can.”…Mitsuru smiled with satisfaction at the files they’d gathered. Their intel gathering might have been interrupted, and they’d likely drawn attention to themselves, but they’d gathered enough pieces to get a strong suspicion about their targets. Especially after some digging through their social media. On the large screen behind her was a still image of the calling card video against Shido. “Very well. We’ve gone over the evidence. To start I want to reiterate that our goal is not the capture of the Phantom Thieves. While I acknowledge Shirogane-san’s legal concerns, we are mostly concerned with the large scale behaviour alteration going on, rather than the individual ‘changes of heart’ caused by them. We are seeking them out, because are likely involved, and know about it.”“Ryuji Sakamoto, age 17. Former star member of the Shujin Academy track team. Raised by his mother after she divorced his father on charges of abuse and neglect. Used to have low average grades but no disciplinary problems. After Suguru Kamoshida took over the team, Sakamoto often clashed with him. This culminated in a fight about a year ago, when Kamoshida mocked Sakamoto’s problematic family situation, and Kamoshida broke his leg, leading to a suspension. Since then, Sakamoto was a ‘problem student.’ After the suicide attempt of Suzui Shiho, he was threatened with expulsion by Kamoshida for instigation of violence against a teacher. However, after Kamoshida’s confession and arrest, his grades have apparently stabilized, and his behaviour has improved. He rekindled his friendship with Ann Takamaki, and formed a new one with Ren Amamiya.”“Ann Takamaki, age 17. Aspiring model, classmate of Ren Amamiya and Yuuki Mishima. Both parents are models, and are often absent for long periods. Middling grades, few disciplinary issues. Her foreign appearance caused her to have few friends. Until recently she counted only Suzui Shiho. Rumour had it that she was involved in a relationship with Suguru Kamoshida. However, Kamoshida confessed that he had blackmailed her into this, by using Shiho’s position on the volleyball team. Her reputation has since then improved.”“Yuuki Mishima, age 17. Classmate of Amamiya and Takamaki. Former member of the volleyball club. Average grades. Only child, lives with parents. Rather timid of nature, he seems to have made few friends, and was a frequent bullying victim. Became a member of the volleyball club despite limited physical ability, the rumour is mostly to prove himself. As most members of that team, he suffered physical abuse. After Shiho’s suicide attempt, he too suffered the threat of expulsion by Kamoshida. After Kamoshida’s confession, he left the volleyball club. His grades have actually suffered somewhat since then. He seems to be very active in seeking out bullies and criminals. More importantly, Yamagishi has long since tracked down the Phantom Thieves Affeccionado website’s administrator, and Mishima’s house is the origin.”“Wow, that’s pretty big.” Satonaka said. “Shouldn’t we just talk to him then?”Naoto spoke up. “Narukami already spoke with him, and he didn’t seem all too eager to talk. His build does not match any of the Phantom Thieves’ images. What’s more, all the other people of interest have had certain absences in common. He does not. He might be a Phantom Thief, or he might simply be an ally to them. We are not sure how much he knows.”“The next figure is of particular interest. Ren Amamiya. Age 17. Child of well-to-do parents in the Toyama prefecture. Recent transfer student to Shujin Academy after his expulsion for assaulting someone. Is in Tokyo because of the probation that was arranged by the courts, living above café Leblanc with Sojiro Sakura as his guardian. Sojiro Sakura, interestingly enough, had been a government official involved with the Cognitive Psience project and a friend to Wakaba Ikishi, as Shirogane-san noticed.” Naoto nodded.“Was half a day late on his first day at school, alongside Ryuji Sakamoto. At this point, rumours about his criminal record had already spread. Alongside Sakamoto, he had been questioning students about Kamoshida’s behaviour. He too was threatened with expulsion after Shiho’s suicide attempt. An expulsion averted by Kamoshida’s confession. In the months after, he was very active, engaging in several part time jobs, and being spotted befriending several people, some of them quite surprising for a high schooler.”“Hah, now that sounds like someone we know, right partner?” Hanamura said.Narukami looked up from his own laptop? “Hm? Sorry, I was just reading through the files of some of Amamiya’s friends. Interesting figures.”Aigis smiled sadly. “Sounds like someone we knew as well.”Mitsuru nodded. “True. What’s more is that between the reported suicide of the leader of the Phantom Thieves and Shido’s confession, Amamiya was absent from school for ‘family reasons’ These three are very likely to be the core of the Phantom Thieves. They all had reasons to target Kamoshida, they are possible matches for the silhouettes and they have all been conspicuously absent during the last month of high Phantom Thief activity. No evidence I would like to bring before a court, but enough that I feel we should talk to them.”“To take this chronologically, there is Yusuke Kitagawa, age 17. Student at Kosei High. Orphaned at a young age and raised by Ichiryusai Madarame in conditions that were neglectful and exploitative. Only one real friend at school, Naoya Makigami. Like most students of Madarame, he created artwork that Madarame then claimed credit for. Around the time that Madarame was targeted by the Phantom Thieves, he befriended our ‘core group.’ The most visible sign is the odd version of the Sayuri that has been hanging at Leblanc since then. It should also be noted that while the first calling card was inexpertly made, Madarame’s, and all later cards were made to professional standards.”“Makoto Niijima, age 18. Third year and student council president at Shujin Academy. Aikido student. Excellent grades and exemplary behaviour. Few friends because of a reputation of arrogance and controlling behaviour. Her mother died at birth, and her father died in the line of duty as a police officer. She was raised by her sister, Sae Niijima.” Mitsuru looked at Akihiko and Chie. “So, do be careful what you say to her. We do not know where her loyalties lie. Social media shows that for some time, she was investigating Amamiya. However, this stopped shortly before the third major calling card was delivered. She had been approached by students who had been victimized by Kaneshiro. Shortly before and ever afterwards, she befriended the core group, something which was entirely unexpected, given their poor reputation.”“Futaba Sakura, or Futaba Isshiki as we knew her. Age 15. Not currently enrolled in any school. Daughter of Wakaba Isshiki. Father unknown. Adopted and raised by Sojiro Sakura, Amamiya’s guardian. We almost didn’t find her. She has next to no online presence that we can track. After the death of her mother, she was raised by her uncle Youji Isshiki for some time,until he allowed Sojiro Sakura to adopt her. She did not return to attend any school however, and seems to become something of a recluse, never leaving her home. Teachers from before the tragedy describe her as ‘a little genius’ though, and her talent and interest in information technology was remarked on. Yamagishi has informed me that the methods used to intrude upon the media for the delivery of the Calling Card are refined versions of the one used by the original Medjed.”“Wait, wasn’t Medjed one of the enemies of the Phantom Thieves?” Satonaka suddenly exclaimed.“That was revealed to be a ruse. Part of the work of the conspiracy. Pay attention,” Hanamura snapped.“Du calme,” Mitsuru chided. “But Hanamura is right. We strongly suspect that Sakura joined the Phantom Thieves at this stage, and brought down the fake Medjed. No other associate of theirs would have the skills, and shortly afterwards, Sakura started to appear in pictures outside of the house. She also matches the silhouette of one of the Phantom Thieves. And of course, she would have ample reason to target Shido.”“And finally, Haru Okumura, age 18. Her mother died when she was young. Her father was Kunikazu Okumura, CEO of Okumura foods. Third year at Shujin Academy. Good grades, but few friends. Reported to be polite but aloof and distant. Her father arranged a betrothal with Reo Sugimura. I have heard of him. It does not speak well of the late Okumura that he agreed to this. Shortly before being targeted by the Phantom Thieves, arrangements were being made to speed up the marriage. After her father’s change of heart and simultaneous mental shutdown, Haru was reported to spend time with the aforementioned group of friends.”She fell silent. Akihiko spoke up. “That’s seven of them, if we don’t count Mishima. But there were eight people in the clip. And we’re pretty sure there were eight people talking in Shido’s calling card.”Shirogane nodded. “True. An eighth individual is present. Though it is possible that it is some kind of mechanical cat-doll and a voice coming from someone not visible.”“Amamiya was spotted walking around with a cat a lot.” Narukami spoke. “Though the cat hasn’t been seen in a long while.”“I would say it is preposterous, but we all remember Koromaru,” Mitsuru said with a sad smile. “For now, I think we have enough to try to reach out to them, and see if we can parley. I would request Akihiko and Satonaka to stay with me, as I have some things to investigate regarding Watanabe-san, and I could use the help.”Narukami nodded and stood. “Alright, let’s go. I hope this will be a friendly talk.…“For real,” Ryuji said, his lips tight and his face pale with anger.“It might not be as bad as it looks.” Makoto said without much conviction. “She doesn’t show up on the Nav.”“Neither did Goro Akechi,” Ren said. “This is real dangerous. We can’t just change Kirijo’s heart, and even without the police, she has the power be able to go after us. We need to deal with Watanabe, and we need to make sure to neutralize her power as quickly as possible.”Ann crossed her arms. “Let’s just hope they haven’t gotten enough to go after us.”Futaba’s phone suddenly buzzed. She quickly answered it and her face got a bit paler. “Alright, yeah, thanks.”She looked up. “They’re at Leblanc.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ren looked at the door to Leblanc, calming himself before going in. He'd gone in worse situations. He had friends nearby.The fact that his pursuers were here made it clear they were on his trail. Avoiding them was pointless. Best to face them when he was prepared, and try to get them off the trail. Or at least muddy the waters.He reached down to his phone, put in Mementos, but didn't activate it. One push of the button, and he'd be in the Metaverse. Preferably without anyone else, but while Ren Amamiya wasn't able to deal with a robot and three college students if they got forceful, they'd have a far harder time with Joker.He pushed open the door, the bell announcing his arrival. Showtime.The role came naturally. One hand in his pocket, the other holding his smartphone, slouching slightly. Hie eyes briefly met Sojiro. They darted to the booth nearby. “Hey Sojiro, sorry I'm late,” he said distractedly. The model of an impolite teenager.He got to the counter, allowing himself a quick disinterested gaze at the table. Shirogane and Aigis faced the door, Narukami and Hanamura facing them. Aigis and Narukami would be closest to him. All of them were busy drinking coffee and chatting, but he caught Hanamura giving him a curious side-eye. None of them looked like they were going to make a move right away. Aigis looked really human, but he'd heard Tora's description. She was still a big unknown. As he turned his back on them to take a seat at the counter, his heart rate spiked.Sojiro gave a gruff nod. “It's fine. You want some curry? Kept some warm.”The offer of food reminded Ren that he hadn't actually eaten all that much today. Sounded good. Give him some time to calm. Maybe learn something listening. “Yeah, thanks.” He put his school bag down very carefully, about it open it when he realized what he was doing.He was gonna have to stop doing that. It always bummed him out. The cellphone was put on the counter, screen down. Delicious smelling food appeared in front of his face, like it always did. A quick thank you and he started eating quietly. Sojiro stood next to him, preparing another cup of coffee. If the food wouldn't stop them from approaching them, the shopkeeper would.He took his time, listening to his pursuers talk. Hanamura was the loudest, sounding slightly too carefree to be natural perhaps, talking about exams and essays and deadlines. Narukami laughed at the right times, encouraged or commiserate at the right time, but he seemed distracted. Shirogane only added a few words to the conversation. Aigis only cut in now and then to make a joke at the students' expense. Either she had emotions and a personality, or was damn good at faking it.As the seconds ticked away, the plate was emptied his stomach was filled, and his heart rate returned to normal. He didn't really get to taste the food.He put the the chopsticks down. “Delicious as always, Sojiro.”Sojiro just nodded, and the cup of coffee was placed in front of him. “I'm gonna do the dishes. Are you gonna head upstairs for the night?” His eyes lingered on him at the question. Sojiro wasn't in favor of this plan“Nah, I'm gonna finish my coffee here.” He said. Sojiro scowled slightly but nodded, moving towards the back. “We'll be closing soon,” he briefly warned his customers.Ren took a drink of the coffee. The bitter, hot liquid further eased him. He was on home ground. He was ready.“Excuse me,” Shirogane opened, stepping outside of the booth, and Ren's eyes briefly went to his phone to make sure he was fully aware of its location. It was starting.He didn't turn. “Yes,” he simply said.“I am Naoto Shirogane, we are investigating some strange events, and we were hoping you might be of help to us.” She spoke in clipped, formal tones. He thought he detected a hint of irritation at his poor manners. Good, he wanted them off guard.He briefly looked over his shoulder, giving the gathered crowd a disinterested look, before returning to his coffee. “Not sure why you think I would be of any help to you.”Narukami followed up. “The events are connected to the Phantom Thieves.” A far warmer voice, definitely the good cop to the bad cop there.“I don't know who the Phantom Thieves are, and if I did, I wouldn't help you find them,” he replied in an even, almost bored voice. He didn't think they’d give up so early, but he'd at least force them to show their hand.“We're not trying to catch them,” Hanamura said. “I mean, I don't think they should be caught or anything. But there's something they might be able to help us with.” Ohya had told him the guy was something of a Phanboy. Could be useful.He shrugged. “Put a post on the Phansite like everyone does. Make sure to post the full name too.”“We are not seeking a change of heart to be performed,” Aigis said. “Rather, we are concerned about events around Christmas Eve, and the public's behaviour.”They'd been aware of that. This much Ren knew already. “I suppose you could post that on the forums too. Better than asking me.” He took another sip. This was a good sign. If they had solid evidence against him, they wouldn't be trying to coax him into telling them he was a Phantom Thief.Now it was Narukami who spoke. “Amamiya-kun. We think you are very close to a Phantom Thief, if not a Phantom Thief yourself.”And there it was. Now the party started. He turned around slowly, making sure his hand never was far from his phone without looking at it, and looked Narukami in the face. There was no accusation or smugness there. Some pretty intense grey eyes inspecting him. The model of a well meaning teacher who just wants you to tell them what's wrong. But Ren was confident in his mask. His own grey eyes, hidden behind the glasses, tired and unfriendly. He was the Trickster after all.“You're wrong,” he said without the slightest flinch. He took a sip of coffee.Hanamura grinned as if Ren had said a joke, leaning back against the booth. Trying not to threaten him. “Come on, like I said, we're not your enemies. There's just a problem going on, and maybe we can help you with it. Let's cut the crap and help each other out.”If they tried this hard to convince him, they really didn't have anything. He didn't reply, and took another sip.Shirogane gave an irritated look. He was getting under her skin. “We know you are closely associated with many victims of the Phantom Thieves' targets. The timing of you forming these bonds makes a coincidence far from plausible. A court would consider this circumstantial but we are not here to bring you in front of a court. Can we not speak in hypotheticals if you insist?”And there was the play. Far less threatening than photo-evidence, but not something he could just shrug off if he wanted to throw them off the trail. He made sure to wince slightly, as if caught. And give the detective a scowl as he looked at her. Then sighed and put the mug down, turning around, letting his hand remain near the phone.“It's not a coincidence. Fine. Here's the truth. When the Phantom Thieves saved us by stealing Kamoshida's heart, we wanted to help others. We started to look for other people that were in situations like that. Once we found them, we talked about them in school, since they obviously were paying attention there. And it worked. Until I got arrested. We stopped after that. So you're wasting your time here.” He gave an irritated look to hide the tension. If they had more evidence, this is where it would get dicey.Aigis, who'd been silently, unmoving, studying his face all the while finally spoke up. “You say you have not engaged in any activities, but your group has been absent from school on multiple occasions on the same day this last month. How do you explain that?”Alright. He'd expected, even hoped they'd go there. “You've been digging around that much about me and you didn't figure out why I might miss school for a bit, and why my friends would be with me? I'm sure you know that I was 'away on family matters in November’ when 'the leader of the Phantom Thieves' was caught?” His voice, that had been sullen up till now got a sharper edge. He didn't have to fake that one.Narukami winced. “No, we know. What happened to you was inexcusable.”Ren gave him a bitter smirk. Make him uncomfortable, make him guilty, make him want to not bother Ren and his friends further. “You know, people always use that language when the guilty aren't punished. 'What happened to you, what was done to you, the abuses that occurred'. Like it's a tsunami, or an earthquake. Something that can't be helped. An excuse to do nothing. The police drugged me. The police tortured me. The police forced me to sign a confession. So yes, I skip school sometimes with my friends when I'm having a bad day. Like when I have to explain this to a bunch of nosy strangers.”It was deliberate, manipulative, but he did feel the anger that still brewed in his stomach whenever he thought of that.Narukami looked away, Hanamura looked nervously in his direction, even Aegis seemed to be uncomfortable to continue. But Shirogane's eyes were cool and unconcerned as they met him. “So, that is why you had your Phantom Thief friends assault the mind of the police officer who interrogated you.”Her voice had been formal and cool, now it was sharp, accusing. The detective's three companions looked shocked, taking a few steps distance from the source of the callous remark. The anger, always present in the back, and already stoked, boiled over. “Those assholes got what they deserved!” he just about snarled.There was not a trace of a smile on the detective's face when she replied. “Most likely they do. But you know there were more than one officer having their heart changed. I only mentioned one. This information was not made public. If you do not wish to help us, say so, but do not work against us by lying to us.”Ren's hand near the phone twitched, but scowl remained on his face, didn't freeze as he caught his misstep. He shrugged as if it was unimportant to him. “The police's secrets aren't as safe as they like to pre...”“Alright, that's enough.” Sojiro had abandoned his dishes. “You, upstairs, the rest of you, get out of my store.” Sojiro's voice broke the tension, and he found himself blinking rapidly when he looked at his guardian's irritated face.“It's fine, Sojiro, I'm just...”“...being very clever. Everyone is really impressed. Get upstairs.” And whatever further scheming Ren was trying to cook up pretty much evaporated. He abandoned his coffee, snagged the phone and bag and headed up the stairs. He briefly lingered to hear the discussion.“Sojiro-san....” Narukami started in his earnest, warm voice. Sojiro didn't give him an inch.“The four of you, get out. You are banned from this store. If I see you coming in or hanging around, I'm calling the police, got it?” he snapped.“We weren't trying to get him in trouble,” Hanamura started.Shirogane spoke quietly, and with some self-satisfaction, Ren thought. “I believe we have learned all that we can in this place. Let us not waste more time. We will not be telling Sakura-san anything he doesn't know. Your coffee was wonderful, I will regret not drinking it again. Have a very nice evening.”...Outside Leblanc, Yosuke gave Naoto a scandalized look.“Naoto what the...” Yosuke started when Naoto raised her hand, looked around, and gazed straight at two teenage girls who were sitting on a bench nearby, occupied with their smartphones.“Niijima-san. Takamaki-san A good evening to you as well.”The blonde looked at the detective as if she'd pulled a gun on her, but the brunette recovered quickly and nodded back. “And to you, Shirogane-san.”And they left. With Yosuke arguing that they were trying to get these people to help, and Naoto irritably responding that they clearly weren't interested in that if they kept lying to them, while Ann and Makoto hurried inside Leblanc.None of them detected the presence that started to follow the four investigators.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Yu and his friends convened at the same restaurant they'd met in at the start of the day. The food was pretty fancy, though the four from Leblanc were disappointed to find no curry on the menu.There was a fair amount of arguing going on now that they were at a table separate enough to do so privately.

“Seriously Naoto, we know the kid got tortured. Was that necessary?” Yosuke had calmed down, but during the trip he'd been livid. Yu wasn't exactly happy either.

“He let his guard down, I provoked a response to make sure he spoke without thinking about his lies. It's really interrogation 101. Torture is unforgivable and stupid, but some manipulation is permissible to get to the truth,” Naoto said coolly.

“What interrogation? We're not trying to catch them in the act. We're trying to get them to help us,” Yosuke said.

“If they're not willing to stop lying to us, they aren't going to be of any help,” Naoto said sharply. “I'd rather have them unfriendly but know what they are, than keep things cordial but remain uncertain.”

Yu interrupted the blossoming argument. “I'm not exactly happy with what happened, but there's no point lingering on it. They might still be on our side though. I remember you had to deal with another bunch of teenagers keeping secrets from you.”

Naoto smiled. “True, they were as aggravating and annoying then as they are now.”

Chie chuckled. “Maybe you should get some of 'em drunk on non-alcoholic drinks and see what comes out.”

Akihiko gave Chie besides her an amused look. “Now there's a story I think I should hear.”

Yosuke groaned theatrically. “Please, no. I was doing so well forgetting that ever happened.”

With the mood improved, Yu looked at his yakitori thoughtfully. “I wonder if perhaps we should have told them more about ourselves.”

Mitsuru gave him a glance. “I feel they already know more about us than I am comfortable with.”

“Back when we had to deal with the murders in Inaba, one of the reasons we didn't really trust anyone else is because we figured nobody could believe it. If these kids knew we have Persona, that we have encountered supernatural threats, perhaps they'd be more likely to trust us.”

Yosuke grinned. “Dude, yeah! They're probably thinking 'These guys got no idea, we should keep them away,’ but if they know we've got these powers, they'll change their tune.” He gave a smug grin. “Maybe help the rookies out a bit. ”

“I disagree,” Naoto said, pouring some cold water on the rising mood. “We are not certain the Phantom Thieves are on our side. If we reveal our powers to them and they are hostile, we have lost the element of surprise.”

Yosuke was about to say something when there was a quiet sound from under the table. All of them fell silent. Then it came again. A quiet meow.

Yu blinked, then looked under the table. A black cat was staring straight at him with blue eyes. A yellow collar was around its neck. Once again, it meowed insistently at him.

Chie sighed in exasperation. “Yu, did you sneak a cat in the restaurant again?”

“That happened once!” Yu said defensively. “And no, I didn't. I think the poor kitty's lost though. He looks kinda hungry, but he's got a collar. To absolutely nobody's surprise, the friend to all cats took some of his own food to offer it to the animal.

It reacted with a yowl and a hiss that surprised him enough to drop the food on the ground as he pulled his hand back.

Yosuke chuckled. “Wow, a cat that doesn't like Yu. First time for everything.”

“That isn't funny. I was just trying to help it. Maybe someone hurt it.” The cat gave him a look as it snatched the food from the ground.

Mitsuru coughed. “If we can bring our conversation back on track

s'il vous plaît

...” She gave a withering look that drew the attention. “Satonaka, Akihiko and I have managed to make progress on the Watanabe angle.”

Akihiko nodded. “We've been going over the interviews and confessions of the captured conspiracy members. The guy's obsessed with getting access to the Metaverse.”

Chie nodded. “When he made his break, he took a lot of really expensive equipment with him. Not the kind of stuff you'd sell.”

“He is trying to find a way in the Metaverse. To be able to protect his heart from being stolen. From the description of the equipment he has, we were able to deduct his approach to the problem. Interesting, and while he works under some theoretical misconceptions, he's in the right direction to get somewhere. But more importantly, I know what kind of equipment he'd need to build this. It is highly specialized. Only a few companies would be able to supply him what he need.”

Mitsuru smiled. “It was simply a matter for the three of us to go over the lists of sales. And we've found a likely candidate. Someone has been trying to order equipment in the Tokyo region, but they don't really have the credentials for it. This is equipment worth tens of millions of yen after all.”

Yu was still distracted by the cat, who seemed to have calmed down. He looked up. “Wait, how did you get the companies to tell you that?”

Mitsuru gave him a confused look at the question. “Because I own the companies?”

Yu facepalmed. “Ah, sorry. We've been working together for a while now. I forget at times.”

The Kirijo Group's leader seemed rather pleased with that. “Ah...

Merci

. I have emailed one of the companies the orders to respond positively to his request, and send a truck with the supplies. It should arrive tomorrow afternoon. We will deliver it. With any luck, it should lead us to Watanabe, and hopefully, answers.”

….

Yu was sitting shotgun in the truck, Akihiko at the wheel, both of them dressed in uniforms. Mitsuru had even managed to arrange that the delivery came with their disguises. In the back of the truck Aigis, Chie, and Yosuke were among the cargo. Mitsuru and Naoto followed in Naoto's car.

The drive led them into a rather run-down industrial area on the edge of Tokyo. Akihiko looked around. “Man, I can get why the companies weren't hurrying to send someone here. If it wasn't for everyone being so apathetic, I'd be worried about a robbery here too. Guess it's not a bad place if you're hiding from the law.”

Yu was looking on his smartphone. “There's more to it than that.” He pointed at a building that looked recently built, but was still boarded up and left to crumble. “That building there. That's the old Research Centre for Cognitive Psience. Dr. Watanabe is hitting old grounds.”

The address didn't lead there though, taking them a few blocks away. Finally, they stopped in front of a locked gate. Looking at the state of it, it'd been locked for a fair few years. Yu held back his disappointment. It wasn't very likely that their quarry had just given his actual address considering who was after him.

He checked his phone, making sure that he still had an active call with Naoto and Aigis. He opened the door of the cabin, and looked around, making a show of looking at a clipboard. No others cars were around, no lights were on in the building. But there was a vagrant sitting by the side of the road, a plate with a few yen on it.

He approached.

His first thought was that the guy might have seen something.

The second thought was that being a beggar was probably harsh in these areas.

His third thought was that the guy smelled of old sweat, and definitely could use a shower. The man’s eyes looked up at him nervously.

His fourth thought, as the beggar started to move was that it was weird a beggar would sit in this deserted place.

And then, with a move, he was looking down the barrel of a gun into the wild eyes of Dr. Genma Watanabe.

“Quiet! Not a word. If you say something I'll shoot,” he said in a hoarse and uneven voice. Yu raised his hands slowly. Behind him, he heard Akihiko step closer.

“Stay back! I'll shoot. I will!” The man's pupils were tiny, he was sweating way too much, and his hands were trembling along the gun. Akihiko stopped.

Yu was no stranger to threats on his life. He'd faced far greater enemies than a desperate, strung out man with a gun. But the trembling voice and desperate eyes made him think of one of the most terrifying moments in his life.

“

I'm going to save her.”

He kept his calm, keeping his hands where the man could see them. The man was recognizable, but in his pictures he'd always been perfectly groomed, eyes looking sternly at the camera through the glasses. Now his hair was a dirty mess, he was unshaven, his lips were covered in bite marks and his pupils were pinpricks. He chuckled hysterically. “You must think I'm an idiot. My order is suddenly accepted after being refused? You won't have me! You won't!”

“Turn around!” He ordered. Yu complied and felt the barrel press against his spine. He looked at Akihiko. He looked tense but controlled, calm.

“Alright. You're in control. We're not...” He spoke slow.

“No talking! Only talk when I ask you a question! I won't let you sneak something in! Not listening! Open the back of the truck. If I hear or see anything that I don't expect, I start shooting.”

Akihiko looked at Yu, fists clenched but then slowly walked to the doors at the back. Yu could only watch, Dr. Watanabe’s gun on his spine and
hand holding his shoulder. He couldn't see what Akihiko was doing looking inside, but eventually his voice rang out. “There are people inside. Three.”

There was laughter coming from behind him. “Of course, of course. I knew they're after me. I mean, I don't know. Shut up, I don't know. Don't tell me! Don't tell me anything!” He suddenly sounded panicked, and Yu gasped as the gun pressed against his back harder.. “T...tell them to come out. Weapons and phones on the ground. And no... no reading material.”

His friends slowly filed out of the truck, hands in the air. Yosuke looked furious, Chie and Aigis both looked focused. Smartphones and a pair of pocket knives were deposited on the ground, kicked underneath the truck.

“Now... if I.. if I am gonna look into the truck, am I gonna see anything that'll make me kill your friend here? I don't wanna do this. Don't make me do this! It'll be on you!” He went from threatening to pleading in a single breath.

“No. The only things in the truck are the things you ordered. A few other things you might need.” Akihiko replied slowly, carefully, trying to keep his attention. Yu noticed Chie trying to quietly move to the side. Was she getting ready to make a move? He forced his breathing to remain calm.

“Alright, all of you... move...other side of the road. Close... close together.” He started pushing Yu forward. It was all he could do to move as ordered. Memories of the power he'd had in the TV world mocked him now.

They got to the back of the truck. The few meters separating Yu from his friends at the other side of the street might as well be the Pacific at this point. Yosuke's eyes were on him, the others' were looking right past him at the gunman.

And then suddenly the hand on his shoulder moved to hold him by his neck, pushing him closer, and the gun pressed painfully tight against him. “A TV? Why a TV? You were gonna make me watch it weren't you? You were gonna force me to look at it!”

“We're not...”

“SHUT UP!” Watanabe screamed, his voice breaking. “I... I gotta... all of this... it's probably... filled with... things... But how am I... I can't...” The barrel was moving erratically against his back.

Yu could only stare at his friends with wide eyes as the man seemed to break down. Yosuke's face was going ashen; Chie and Akihiko were coiled and ready to move. Yu should get ready too to help, but right now, all his muscles were like ice.

And then suddenly things went quick. Watanabe suddenly cried out, “WHO ARE YOU?” and Yu was suddenly pulled to the side. He saw Naoto sneaking up, gun drawn, eyes widening, Mitsuru with an evoker in hand behind her. There was a shout from Yosuke, the feel of the barrel suddenly pressing against the back of his head. And then there was a loud noise and movement and the smell of blood.

He was vaguely aware of Chie and Akihiko storming past him, and people shouting, but everything seemed really distant for a bit, like he was watching a tv show while half asleep. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there when Yosuke shaking him snapped him out of it.

“Partner, you're okay! You're okay!”

“I'm okay,” Yu repeated, and took a breath. When he let it go, he suddenly found himself shuddering. “Lemme sit down for a bit.” He didn't sit down as much as his legs crumpled, with Yosuke guiding him to a sitting position. “This is kind of pathetic after all we went through,” he brought out. “What happened?”

Aigis spoke up. There was an acrid smell coming from her. “I took the shot at his hand. I have guns built in, even in this form. I did not have a proper arc of fire to shoot at the firearm, and I did not wish to take a lethal shot, considering the risks to you and the information we need. Perhaps I should have done so. Perhaps that was a callous calculation.” Her voice sounded dark.

“Yu, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, are you alright?” Naoto's voice went to a higher register, as it did the rare times her calm broke. “I tried to get closer. But then he noticed me, and I was still too far and...”

“Guys, can we give Yu a little bit of breathing room?” Chie suddenly stepped in. Her voice was calm and steady, and even Yosuke backed off without objection. She crouched in front of Yu. “Hey Yu, I'm gonna do a quick check to make sure you're okay, alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

What followed was a series of questions and quick check ups. There were a few moments in between when she was quietly mouthing things to herself like trying to think of the response on an exam. It was, weirdly enough, very calming. But finally she nodded. “I don't think you're in shock. Normally I'd have you go to a hospital to be sure, but we're kind of in a weird situation. Do you think you can go on?”

Yu nodded. “Yeah... I could go for some water.” Chie handed it to him. “Here, use some on your hair too maybe. You’ve got something on it.” She grimaced a bit, and then stood, looking at the others. “The rest of you, don't beat yourselves up over this, okay? When there's some crazy guy with a gun threatening someone, all you can do is make your best guesses and hope it works out. And it did work out. None of us got hurt, we got our guy with what doesn't look too bad of an injury. Now, Akihiko can keep this guy pinned to the pavement all day, but I'm kind of curious what he's got to say, don't know about you guys?”

Yu looked around, seeing that he hadn't been the only one to have calmed down during Chie's running down of the checklist. Mitsuru looked at her as they all rose to their feet. “I'm impressed Satonaka, you and Akihiko have acquired quite some sang-froid.”

Chie grinned proudly. “Hah, thanks. We're not really detectives I guess, but this is part of the job we're training to do. And we both have reasons to want to be able to do the best we can, especially in situations like this.” And Yu was reminded that Chie had the same memories as he did.

The group gathered a bit further, where Watanabe was still struggling in his cuffs underneath Akihiko, who effortlessly kept him pinned. He seemed to be completely losing it, his eyes closed, repeating 'can't hear you' in an endless mantra. He was still bleeding from the hand that held the gun. Of course, they knew what he was trying to do.

Akihiko looked at Mitsuru, who nodded, then he turned the man on his back, putting his hand on his mouth. “Listen, and listen closely.” The man's eyes opened wide, panicked and pleading as if he was the one staring down the barrel of a gun. “We do NOT have a calling card. There is no calling card out for you. The Phantom Thieves are NOT targeting you.”

There was a moment of shocked silence.

Then the man started sobbing.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

After that, things calmed down. Watanabe apologised, and led them to a hidden lab, about two blocks away in a nondescript buildings basement level, behind an electronically locked door. His hand was bandaged, and the goods were unloaded quickly, the truck parked some distance away. He was left uncuffed, though never far from either Akihiko, Chie, or Aigis.“So, what is this place anyway?” Yosuke asked, looking around. Many of the devices were new, but some of them had clearly been there for a fair few years.“A private lab I managed to establish during my tenure at the Research Centre for Cognitive Psience. For personal projects,” he said. Now that he was calmed down, he didn't sound nearly as unstable. Just exhausted.“You mean projects without supervision,” Mitsuru said.He gave a weak smile. “True enough. I am surprised to see you of all people here helping me, Kirijo-san. I seem to remember you opposing our research.”Her scowl deepened, and this time there was ice on her voice. “I opposed them because research into these matters leads to disaster. Now that disaster has come, I expect you to assist in the clean-up. Make no mistake, you will be brought to account for your part in this.”He cringed and shrunk in his seat. “I am not the one who developed the method Shido used. He had his assassin for that. And refusing Masayoshi Shido was not a thing one survives. I'll help you in any way I can. Just... it's not the law and the courts I'm hiding from, you know that.”Mitsuru spoke. “Tell me, what research did you perform for Shido? Did it have anything to do with the abnormalities in behaviour in the public?”He looked at her questioningly. “Abnormalities in the public...? You mean the psychotic breakdowns?”“No, we know about those. I mean everybody acting all... completely law abiding, but ignoring anything that's not affecting them,” Yosuke said. He was still quite pissed at the man, apologies or not.He shook his head. “I... don't know anything about that. I haven't been going outside.. in a long while.” He motioned at the lab, which had clearly also become his living space. “We had no such project. I was tasked to find a way to... imitate the effect of Goro Akechi and possibly the Phantom Thieves. And protect himself from others doing the same to him. I developed... mental exercises that I presumed would strengthen defenses in his cognitive world, or Metaverse. Obviously they were... insufficient, as you've seen. After his Change of Heart, I... focused exclusively on finding way to enter the cognitive world bodily, particularly after the Phantom Thieves started to hunt the others involved down.”Yu asked him, “do you remember the bloody rain of December 24th?”The doctor looked at him like he was insane. “What? No, I was inside that day, working. What... I would have heard about such a thing.”“Do you have any idea what could cause simultaneous large scale changes in public behaviour?” Naoto followed up.“I eh....” The man thought, clearly struggling against his fatigue. “There is... the theoretical talk of a collective unconsciousness? But I wouldn't... wouldn't even know how to start such an undertaking.”“What about Goro Akechi?” Aegis asked. “What do you know of his abilities? He is still missing. Could he be involved?”“I don't... I don't think so. He wasn't really eager to give us information. He couldn't tell us anything about how he acquired it. Or wouldn't. But his powers, besides going into the Metaverse mostly involved the... opposite effect. People becoming completely heedless about the rules of society and rampaging. I... suppose he could have hidden that he could use that power in the opposite way. We don't know where he is though. To be honest, the effect you describe sounds closer to the work of the Phantom Thieves.”“They wouldn't do that,” Yosuke said, standing up. “Don't go trying to send us after them just because you're scared of them.”“I'm sorry.” The man cringed. “I... I don't know anything about what could cause these problems you mentioned.”There was a moment of silence. After all the efforts to find the man, he seemed to be unconnected to the threat. Chie spoke up. “Should we... call Niijima-san? I mean, he is a fugitive.”The scientist moved as if to get up, but Akihiko mirrored his action with a warning look and he sat down again. “Please no, I'm sorry, I can help you. If I'm stuck there, they will find me. I...I can work for you. Don't make me a sitting duck.”Mitsuru raised her hand and he fell quiet. “I understand this is difficult for you two, but Niijima-san has... troubling ties.” She looked at the scientist, then to the two cadets. “I understand this brings you in an awkward position.”The two looked at each other and shrugged. Akihiko spoke. “I figure if I'm gonna sink my career I might as well do it on trying to save the world again.”“I wanted to become a police officer to protect people. No point to it if I bail on this to save my job,” Chie agreed“Very well. In that case, Watanabe-san, you will show me your research on accessing the Metaverse. What I could see was promising, and I think we have some of the missing pieces. You'll assist me in finding a way to bring us there.”“Assist you?” He looked up, and very briefly there was a spark of defiance in his eyes. Then he gave a bitter chuckle and bowed his head. “Ah, of course. I will help you. I've been trying to get this working. The biggest difficulty seems to be forming a 'gate.'”“That's what the television sets are for...now, let's take a look at what you have.”What followed was for the more technically inclined group of the group an intriguing exploration of theorizing and technological challenges. For Yu, Yosuke, Akihiko and Chie it was mostly failing to follow the conversation and hauling stuff when directed.At the same time, at the door someone else was doing some technical work as well, following instructions on how to get past the electronic lock, now and then grumbling at the one on the phone.Akihiko noticed first when the door opened. He'd been talking with Chie, facing the door, when it opened slightly, and then a gloved hand tossed in a metal sphere, towards the middle of the room.Akihiko dashed forward as it roamed past, pulling Chie along with him. He shouted a warning, looking back as the sphere landed among his friends.It bounced once, twice, and then exploded into a rain of small cardboard cards.Each of them was covered with red and black concentric circles, as well as a top hat and burning mask combo.Watanabe screamed.Knowing his friends were okay, Akihiko didn't waste any time rushing the door stairs, Chie right behind him. They rushed upstairs, out the door, only to see a hatchback peel off with squealing tires.Akihiko looked angrily at the car. Shirogane had the keys to their car. She'd be here in seconds, but seconds was all the time it took to lose the car.Aigis looked at the departing vehicle, and with the sound of mechanics whirring, and clothes ripping, her built in jetpack exposed itself from her shoulder-blades and thighs. “Please grab hold of my legs.” Akihiko exchanged a single glance with Chie, before rushing over and grabbing hold.Akihiko knew Aigis, trusted her with his life. That's why he grabbed on. He also knew her enough to know that this was very much not what she designed for, and that's why he held on tight.She struggled to maintain enough altitude to clear the warehouses, and enough speed to keep up with the car. Fortunately, it seemed the war returned to a normal speed as soon as it was out of sight. Then they started to descend towards an intersection. Descending pretty rapidly towards an intersection.“Eh... Aigis?” He heard Chie next to him echo his thoughts. When he looked up, the jets of fire were sputtering.“Ngh... insufficient fuel to maintain altitude. Prepare for rough landing.”Akihiko looked at the pavement in front and below. Dropping would be painful, landing with Aigis metal frame on them would be worse. “Chie, on three. One. Two. Three.”He landed tucked and rolled. His body protested but held. Next to him, Chie sprung up to her feet before him. There was a loud crash as Aegis body struck the asphalt. She'd landed just in front of the car, bracing herself for an impact. Akihiko winced.Tires screeched as the car came to an abrupt halt, the front bumper a hand's breadth from hitting her.A moment later, the car door opened and the driver stepped out. He was a middle aged man, ill-shaven, wearing a grey jacket with a red peace sign on it and a grey cap. He glared at Aigis, his right hand clenched in a fist. “Out of my way,” he growled, the end of some kind of lollipop in his mouth.Aigis smiled. “Thank you for not trying to run me over. I recommend that you do not resist. I am more than capable of...”The man interrupted her when he suddenly charged, his fist lashing out with surprising quickness towards her stomach. There was the expected thunk, and lack of response. And then there was a zapping sound, and the sting of ozone.Aigis rarely showed any signs of pain. But now, she cried out loudly, her limbs trashing and seizing in a way that looked inhuman. All of a sudden the pain in his limbs was a distant, abstract distraction as his whole mind focused on nothing but his fist and the man's jaw. He vaguely saw the man dropped something metallic that was smoking, as he turned to face Akihiko.The punch struck with a satisfying thud, the candy flying off. But it'd been too wild, too aggressive a strike, anger taking the edge of his skills. One hand grabbed his wrist, the other held the back of his head, and there was a brief moment when he saw the hood of the car rush up to meet him before the world exploded into pain.As he was brought up for a second go, there was the familiar kiai from Chie. There was a grunt of pain from the man, and he was released. Ignoring the bruise on his forehead, Akihiko quickly got back into his fighting stance, Chie standing beside him.“My personality matrix is unaffected. 57% of motor systems are damaged or impaired. Repair mode activated. I will be fine, Akihiko-san.” Aigis' voice was strained, but she didn't seem to be afraid.When he looked back to the man, he was shrugging off his jacket to the ground. He saw the tattoo on his neck, and recognition dawned. “Munehisa Iwai. The Gecko of Hashiba,” he said, and the man scowled fiercely at his old nickname. “Eh... who?” Chie said, still dancing on the balls of her feet.“About a decade a go, he was a bit a legend as an enforcer for the Hashiba Yakuza. They said he took on twelve guys in a fight at the same time once. But he left the Yakuza a long time ago.”“What's he doing here then?” Chie asked.The coat hit the ground. “This look a Yakuza thing to you?” Iwai growled. “You know my rep. Then get out of my way, rookies.”Akihiko grinned and took a step forward. “Are you kidding me? A challenge like that?” With the rage gone, his focus was back. “I've been waiting for this.”“Hope you weren't waiting on taking him on by yourself. Cuz that's not happening.” Chie added, squaring up alongside of him.Iwai rolled his eyes. “Stupid kids.” He cracked his knuckles. “Fine, class is in session!”They charged.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chie walked back into the secret lab supporting Aigis, whose walk was still a bit unsteady. She had a pretty big limp herself though, and her right eye was rapidly swelling shut. Inside, her friends were frantically working on the devices there. Yosuke looked up.“Oh, Chie, Aigis. Where is Akihiko?”The door behind her opened again, and a bruised and bloodied but grinning Akihiko pulled Iwai into the room. The man wasn't struggling as much as he was unable to walk, but it had been the only way to get him in cuffs. He opened his eyes groggily and spit out some blood from his split lip. “Ugh... damn it... got rusty...”“He's the one? Make him stop them! Tell the Thieves you'll kill him if they won't let me go!” came the voice from Watanabe, who was tied to a chair with a whole bunch of electrodes on him, especially on his head.“Eh... what's going on here?” Chie asked.Mitsuru looked up from the computer she was working on while Naoto checked some connections. “The situation has changed. There is a greater amount of urgency. Dr. Watanabe has chosen not to cooperate with us unless we prevent the Phantom Thieves from stealing his heart.” She sounded extremely displeased.“You led them to me, foolish woman. This is your fault! You...”And suddenly Mitsuru was standing in front of his chair, and Chie was really happy that it wasn't her the Shadow Operative Leader was looking down on. “Watanabe-san,” she said in a voice that could cut diamonds and freeze hydrogen. “I am going through with this, not because of any sense of duty or debt to you. You are a spineless, despicable coward. I do this because you are a lead. And if you continue to push me, we can find other leads. So for your own sake, I advise you to speak only in useful information.”The reply was only a small whimper from the man. She turned to Akihiko and Chie, continuing her instructions as if Watanabe's interruption hadn't happened. “Prepare yourself. If our theories are correct, we should be able to deal with your injuries soon.” Her eyes went to their captive.“As for you, I suppose we'll deal with you when we get back. We are quite sure who the Phantom Thieves are, but you might know some details. You should consider your position in the meantime. We may show consideration if you are helpful.” The man just gave her a look that mixed defiance with punch-drunk dizziness.Minutes later, Chie noticed the familiar sight of Yu putting his hand in the TV. A sight she'd seen plenty of times, but never outside of Inaba. Apparently, with this device, they could access the man's Cognitive World directly.To her chagrin, Akihiko and she were going to be the last ones to go in. It made sense with their injuries, but that didn't mean she had to like it! Yu quickly went in, then came out again, confirming they had an exit, then they filed in.The sensation was different than the TV world. Where that had felt like falling, this was just a brief moment where the world seemed to warp. And then she stepped outside of the TV to be in exactly the same room as she just left, watching Akihiko look at her in confusion.“This really doesn't seem to work,” he said, looking back to her friends who were standing a bit further.“Chie, get over here. Don't worry about it. Akihiko will be right there.” Yu said, beckoning her over. She walked over. Akihiko shrugged and entered the TV. Even as he entered, he was getting out of it in a sight that was really, really disturbing.Akihiko caught her eye. “Huh, something wrong?”Naoto quickly intervened. “Simply some logical side-effects. Considering this is Watanabe's cognitive world, and he sees us, it stands to reason there would be cognitive versions of ourselves. They are simply how Watanabe-san sees us, not the real us, though their reactions are very lifelike.”Chie looked around and saw some differences. For one, Watanabe himself wasn't anywhere near them. Iwai, who'd been securely bound to another chair, was grinning a lot more wickedly. After a quick healing, which involved Mitsuru using that evoker and giving Chie the chills briefly, they got back to street level.There were a few differences. Iwai's car wasn't there. Which made sense since Watanabe had never seen it. The sky was coloured slightly differently. And there was a black van with yellow stripes and some pretty cute accessories that kind of gave it a cat-like vibe. That last one kind of took most of the attention.Yu approached it first. “What on earth is it? Why would Dr. Watanabe imagine something like this?”“Oh finally, you're here!” There was a voice coming from the car. The voice of a young boy. “Get in! You don't have much time!”Yosuke got closer, looking inside. “Wait, where are you, who are you?”“I don't have time to explain everything. You don't have it either. If you wanna stop the Phantom Thieves, get in!”There was a brief moment where everyone exchanged looks, then they rushed into the vehicle, with Mitsuru getting behind the wheel without too much discussion. “Very well. Where to, then?”“The old Cognitive Psience laboratory place. You need me to tell you where it is?” The voice spoke, and Chie realized that it was coming out of the radio, but without any kind of crackling that you might expect.“I know the location,” Mitsuru said, and started the car, causing it to accelerate surprisingly quickly.“Are you perhaps the result of Watanabe-san's research? A cognitive creation to assist us?” Naoto said as they drove.“Nice guess, shorty, but no cigar,” came a smug voice. “I'm not part of the man's Palace. I'll explain later, depending on how this goes. For now, you gotta know that Watanabe's defences are weak. He considers himself helpless against the Phantom Thieves, so he is. His Shadow isn't going to stand a chance against them. And they're going to tear through the shadows defending him quickly.”She saw Yu grip the hilt of his blade. “We'll tear through them quicker.”“Nice spirit, bowl cut, but you don't have time, and weakening his Palace isn't what you want to do. When you get there, just tell them you're there to protect the treasure. Say it in those words.”Yosuke protested from his seat next to her. “We're not here to fight the Phantom Thieves though. We just need to ask them about what's going on.”“I hope you'll get an answer. But you'll want to protect the Treasure anyway. The moment it gets taken, the Palace will crumble, and so will this cognitive world and your chance to talk to them. If that happens, you'll need to go back to the place you've entered. I'll wait as long as I can to help you get there.”They turned a corner, and their goal suddenly was clearly visible. Rather than a boarded up, nondescript, locked up building, the old Psionics labs looked like a fortified lab out some kind of survival horror game, with thick, concrete walls, spotlights and razor-wire fences. And much like in a survival horror game, it was absolutely wrecked. A fire was raging, some of the walls were ripped apart and as they approached she could hear the incessant wailing of alarms.Mitsuru brought the vehicle to a stop with a screech. “Considering the man's mental state, I suppose this kind of thing was to be expected.”“Hah, going into a hidden lab. That brings back memories.” Yosuke grinned, twirling a kunai.“Is it really necessary to make the comparison, Yosuke?” Naoto shot back.“Remember. Tell them you're here to protect the Treasure. And do me a favor, if you talk to the Phantom Thieves, don't mention me. Now hurry!”And with that, they filed out of the van as hurriedly as they got in, weapons at the ready. It really felt like old times. Rushing a weird building filled with Shadows. As they approached the building the front gate suddenly opened, revealing two figures in pale blue body armor with a large symbol that looked like some kind of wide pitchfork on it. Their faces were covered in gas-masks. Their proportions were ever so slightly off. Limbs that were too long, shoulders that were too broad.“Shadows.” She heard the tense voice of Mitsuru, one hand on rapier, the other on the evoker.“Intruders, identify yourselves,” they said, voices distorted in a way that had nothing to do with gas masks.Yu stepped forward, his face icy calm. “I am Yu Narukami. We are here to assist in protecting the Treasure. Dr. Watanabe should be expecting us.”The speaker activated some radio in his suit, briefly speaking in muted voices. After receiving the reply, there was just a “yes sir,” before he turned towards Yu. “Good to have reinforcements. Dr. Watanabe told us to give you full access. He's on the 7th sub-level. Here, this should give you access to the express elevator.”The moment Yu took the card, there was a sudden rush, the green sweater and leggings Chie wore suddenly feeling bulkier around her. What was more concerning was the sudden feeling of something enclosing her face, limiting her field of vision to two holes. Looking at her friends, she could see that all of them suddenly were wearing a similar outfit to the guards themselves, minus the weaponry.“Remain calm.” Naoto's voice was muffled but steady. “This simply confirms we are recognized as defenders who are welcome in this place.”Yu, barely recognizable if not for his sword, nodded. “Let's go then. We have no time to waste.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

After they went in, the door slammed shut behind them. Inside was a large reception area. It probably would have looked impressive in its normal state with the high ceiling, modern clean looks and the large statue. But with half the lights broken, the high ceilings just left a lot of dark shadows, the floor was strewn with rubble and puddles of blood, the reception desk was covered in a wild mess of papers.And then there was a statue. It showed a woman dressed in a lab coat holding out her hand, in it was a brain, made out of glass, a light within flickering different colours, casting the room in an eerie light. However, the woman's face was roughly defaced. The plaque in front of her mentioned the 'visionary genius, founder of the field of Cognitive Psience' but here too the name had been carved away.“There is only one person this might refer to,” Mitsuru said. “Wakaba Isshiki.”“Wakaba Isshiki.” A voice suddenly echoed through the place. Watanabe's voice. “For years I was trying to pin down how the collective unconsciousness worked. Hunting for the barest scraps of Kirijo research I could find. Publishing one hypothesis after another, enduring the mockery of those who said I was a crackpot. Nothing, I found nothing. And then, this woman comes out of nowhere to casually put all the pieces together.”The voice faded. “Eh, anyone else getting a bad feeling about this?” Chie asked.“Considering some of his remarks, I had some suspicions,” Naoto said. “I do not think we will be any more fond of Watanabe-san after our visit here.”“Guys, I found a map,” Yosuke said. “I think the route to the elevator is through the door on the left. We should get a move on!”They continued on, the wide hall replaced by claustrophobic hallways. While it might have been a lab, much like the home of Naoto's shadow might have been, it was radically different. Where her hallways had been wide and cluttered, these were nearly claustrophobic, all done in a sterile blue. Here too however were signs of damage and violence. Lights flickered or were completely out. Bullet-holes marked the walls, bloodstains marked the floor. And all the while the alarm never stopped wailing in their ears.They were just about to go to the elevator, when they heard a scream - “THEY'RE HERE! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!” - followed by the sound of gunfire.This time, Yosuke was the one in the front, followed by Chie and Akihiko, the rest of the team rushing behind them. They barrelled through a door marked 'Communications'.There, they saw two Phantom Thieves: the one with the skull and the tall one who'd been on the far right in the video. They did kind of look like Ryuji Sakamoto and Yusuke Kitagawa. Their shapes barely visible, shadows seeming to cling to them. The figure on the ground, a Shadow guard, was disintegrating in front of their eyes.Yosuke looked down. “Ah crap, he's dead. Or... you know... gone. Look, guys. Hold off on the Heart-stealing for a moment, we just want to talk.”“What use is there for talking when there are corrupted desires to cleanse? We will not be derailed from our mission,” Kitagawa said.“Yeah, this guy is goin' down, and there ain't nothing anyone can do to stop us!” Sakamoto repliedExcept those didn't sound like human voices. They were scrambled, like they had been on the Calling Card to Shido. Probably a way for them to hide their identity. “Quit being so damn stubborn and listen to us!” Chie said.“We've got no time for mooks! The treasure awaits!” Sakamoto said, and threw a smoke bomb. When it cleared, the two were gone.“What, how? We were blocking the only exit!” Akihiko said, his face hidden but every part of his body language yelling frustrated anger.Naoto lowered her pistol. “I have a suspicion, Kirijo, did you detect what I think you detected?”She nodded. “These were not human beings. Nor were they shadows.”“Oh, I get it,” Yosuke said. “Cognitions, right?”“What?” Chie asked.“The guy knows the Phantom Thieves are here, so he's imagining them. That's why they look and sound like on the Calling Card to Shido.”“And that is why they manage to vanish. To the conspiracy, they are like ghosts, uncatchable,” Naoto said. “And more importantly for us, they know nothing more than we do. We should avoid them if possible.”Chie looked at the papers in front of the radio. It was filled with crossed out names. “Looks like Watanabe's been running out of people to turn to. No wonder he's going nuts.”“We should move,” Mitsuru said sternly. “The conspiracy is finished. We are here to find the Phantom Thieves, and we are on a time limit.”The group gathered, making their way back to the elevator. It was a large one, and even with the seven of them, they had enough room to keep away from the bloodstain and bloody footprints in the center.“This is really damn creepy,” Yosuke said as the elevator started its descent, moving soundlessly.Chie nodded and watchedas the floor numbers ticked down their descent. Then the lights flickered three times before failing completely, and the red number was all the illumination there was.Several people cried out simultaneously, almost drowning out the sensation of cool air coming from above.Someone had opened the hatch at the top of their elevator.Chie was turning around when she heard a soft, quiet thud behind her. Her eyes hadn't adapted yet to the dark, and the gas mask didn't help. She didn't see the strike, only heard a cry of pain from Mitsuru. She struck with a kick towards the place the thud had been, but struck only Aigis’ metallic arm.“Too enclosed to use my Persona.” She heard Naoto's voice, then everyone started shouting and nothing could be heard. There was another strike, and this time Yosuke grunted in pain from the other side of the elevator.Her eyes adapting, she saw the vaguest hint of something. A white mask floating in the air, and two gloves, just the barest hint of red to them in the dark.She jumped forward with a battle cry, only to strike air. Her foot stepping on top of Yosuke, who gave out a loud groan in protest. A kick in her back sent her to the ground.And then there was a blinding flash of light as Naoto activated the flashlight on her cellphone. For a bare few seconds Chie blindly scrambled up.And found the elevator empty except for the seven of them, a distorted voice laughing mockingly from above them. Seconds later, with a quiet ding, the elevator opened, the light from the hallway illuminating the elevator cabin.For a few moments everyone panted. Aigis spoke. “This was perplexing. I switched to infra-vision, but could detect nothing.”Yu looked up. “The Conspiracy thinks he’s a Phantom, so his cognition is one. This is the guy that broke out of a police station after all. We should move on. Considering what we know, even 'killing' the cognition isn't likely to finish him.”And onwards they moved, in tense silence, mercifully free from the baring alarm, through smaller hallways, lab-coated figures immobile on the floor. Their speed slowed down as each door was breached in full police procedure.When they encountered the Shadows, Chie almost attacked out of habit. It didn't help that they seemed as jumpy as them, assault rifles briefly coming up.There were three of them. The leader sighed in relief when he lowered his gun. “Oh, reinforcements. Man, are we glad to see you. We're trying to make it to the doctor, but there's... a lot of dead folks in the next room, near the specimen's old habitat. Not sure who it is. We figured we'd try to radio for help before going in.”Mitsuru stepped forward. “Very well. Hanamura, take point, Satonaka, Akihiko, behind him, Narukami, Aigis and I behind them. Shirogane and your men bring up the rear and provide ranged support.”None of the Shadows, or any of their group seemed to object to the orders, even if Yosuke was clearly nervous. In the past, Chie might have objected that she could handle it, but even while being out of practice, Yosuke was the quickest and nimblest on his feet of them.The door opened, and they came into the next hallway. Corpses of guards were strewn far and wide. Normally, shadows didn't bleed, but for this occasion, the coppery smell was thick in the air. There was a broken one-way window that led to a small room. As they passed it, Chie could read the notes on the door. “Specimen Goro Akechi, access by Shido's permission only.” In red letters 'MISSING' had been written on top of it.Then Chie heard the whispers. She raised her hand to signal people to stop, a quick nervous glance back from Yosuke showing that she hadn't been imagining it. Slowly the whispers started becoming louder, until repeating words could be made out, then a phrase.“I couldn't have done it without you.”Again and again the whisper sounded, coming from all sides, one flowing inside the other until it became an incomprehensible blur, working towards a crescendo... and then it fell silent.That is when Wakaba Isshiki appeared in the door at the opposite end of the room. Hair dishevelled, arms limp by her side, dressed in a white funeral kimono, a tire track marring the fabric. The light of blue flames by her side clashed with the hallways' lights. She looked in the middle distance, her eyes gazing through her glasses at none of them.“I couldn't have done it without you.” She spoke in a sad voice. Then her face became contorted with rage and she charged forward.Chie’s police training had nothing to help here, and even her years fighting shadows couldn't make her react in time as the apparition charged past her. When she turned, the figure was gone. Everyone looking around. The rearmost shadow guard had fallen to his knees, blue flames circling him.“What...” she started.“Duck, he's shooting!” Naoto suddenly yelled, and Chie dived without wondering who she was talking about. A moment later, a shower of bullets filled the hallway. Rolling on her back to see what was going on, she saw that the shadow that had fallen to his knees had opened fire on them, screaming in rage.One of the shadows hadn't been quick enough and fell apart, and Mitsuru had gotten injured.“Yamato-Takeru!” Naoto yelled, her Persona materializing, a bright light flashing.The guard vanished into thin air.Silence fell as people gathered themselves up, preparing for the ghost to appear again. Mitsuru quickly called forth her own Persona to heal herself.Yosuke gasped. “That was Wakaba! I'm sure of it!”“'I couldn't have done it without you.'” Watanabe's disembodied voice sounded bitter. “Always what she said while I was her glorified assistant. Like that was supposed to make me feel better? I worked myself to the bone, while she spent half the time taking care of the daughter she got screwing around in college no doubt, and half the time flirting with the government agent. I tried to take work home, to find a mistake in her theories, to find some insight she'd missed. But it was always the same. She'd come up with the brilliant ideas and I could only confirm that yes, the genius doctor Wakaba had made another breakthrough. It wasn't fair. IT WASN'T FAIR!”The voice fell silent again, the masks hiding everyone's facial expression, but the body language spoke volumes. “He is despicable,” Mitsuru said.“I mean, it's his Shadow, so it's not like this is constantly on his mind,” Yosuke said, somewhat cautiously. “But eh, yeah, dude has issues. I guess.” He looked at the door. “Forward I guess?”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Once more, the group advanced carefully, but the ghost did not manifest again. Finally, they reached the final chamber. It looked like thoroughly trashed lab, with a large set of servers in the middle. In the middle was a hologram of the base, several parts of it glowing red. Several other shadows were standing around, in guard position, and working at a table was Watanabe. He wore a lab coat, and around him floated several drones. He was feverishly working on some large gun, that looked more like an artillery piece than a handheld weapon. One of the drones gave a noise, and he looked up, startled, his eyes glowing yellow behind advanced-looking spectacles.“Aaah... oh... it's guards... more guards. Good, s... stay here. They're on their way. I'm sure of it.” He stammered, sounding every bit as nervous as the real Watanabe when they'd first met him.“The Phantom Thieves have not reached you yet?” Aigis asked.He laughed nervously. “Hahah, they've been here several times these last days. I always try to fight them. They always beat me. But the treasure isn't there...” he motioned towards the servers. “They were very unhappy. They can't stand being outsmarted. Little kids. But this time I’ll stop them. Self-defence. I won't let them take my secrets. I worked hard. I'm a servant of science. I even offered to work for them if they'd just leave me alone. I could help them with Stealing Hearts. I'm a brilliant scientist, you know?”“Almost as brilliant as Wakaba-san?” Mitsuru asked sharply.“Shut up! I forbid you to say her name!” He shouted. “Sure, she had good ideas. But no ideas good enough to keep her alive, right? It doesn't matter how many ideas you have if you can't sense which way the wind is blowing. In that way I'm smarter. I deserve this. I deserve to be in charge of this place!” He laughed hysterically, pointing at the ransacked ruins.Yu sighed. “He's pitiful,” he said softly. “Look, if it's alright, we'll stay here, and get ready for the Phantom Thieves arrival.”“Yes! Yes, guard! Guard me! I'll work further on this! I will not let them steal my heart. I’d rather destroy this entire Palace before I let them do that!” He turned back to his work. The group nodded, spreading out.“Let's try to keep an eye out. And remember to be careful. Cognitive Phantom Thieves might be hanging around as well,” Naoto said.And so, they began to wait. After all the hurrying, it was frustrating to be waiting now. And this place had pretty high ceilings. She looked up...straight at a red glove reaching for her mask. Chie didn't have the time to shout a warning before she felt the weight of the Phantom thief on her shoulders. She heard a low voice shout, “I'll reveal your true form.” Then her gasmask was violently and painfully pulled from her face before he jumped off of her.It was definitely their leader, holding her gasmask in one hand, a knife in the other and standing still. Within prime kicking range. Without a second thought, she delivered a kick that had him stumbling back, following up with a God's Hand, the magical golden fist striking him in the stomach and sending him flying several meters across the room.She took the second of breathing room to realize that she wasn't the only one to have attention. The ambush had come from several directions, gunfire erupting from hatches and from behind corners, one explosion disintegrating several shadows and sending Naoto diving for cover. The attackers jumped out, clearly confident in their chances. Watanabe cried out in panic as he tried to equip his contraption. Simultaneous shouts for Persona to appear filled the air.The leader recovered, reaching for his own mask and tearing it off. “Chi-You,” he cried out. The mask burned with blue fire, and out of that fire erupted a green horned creature, armed with spear and shield. He pointed his spear at Chie, a purple ray bursting forth and exploding on the ground near her. She dodged, but couldn't quite clear the blast zone, her mind erupting in agony. Her vision blurred so she only saw a vague silhouette.The silhouette was all she needed. Once more she called upon Suzuka Gongen, sending another God's Hand. When her opponent spread his arms, Chie knew something was wrong. The crushing fist struck her opponent's Persona, and at that time, she felt herself getting slammed backwards against the wall.She could only gasp for breath as he gave her a smirk and stormed right at her. Her muscles tried to get in a defensive position with aching slowness. Too slow, and he was too fast.That's when a gale with bone shattering force blew the black-clad Thief away like a leaf, immediately replaced by a friendlier knife wielding figure. “Chie, you ok?”“Ugh... Yeah....” Her mind cleared. “He became immune to physical attacks. First blow hurt him, then he reflected them back at me.”“Good to know. Here, take this. No time for talk.” Susano-o quickly saw to her aching head and bruised ribs. A quick scan showed that the battle was pretty even. Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis had managed to stick together, guarding each other's back as several assailants nimbly ducked and weaved around them, making probing attacks, but not fully committing to an all out assault. Naoto had managed to bring Okumura, or her cognition, down, but couldn't follow up as Kitagawa went to her rescue. The initial confident rush of their opponents had faded, and they were playing it safe.Then there was a sudden eruption of black light, and all fighting stopped for a second. The attack had barely missed Niijima, and carved a deep hole in the wall. The building shuddered, parts of the ceiling detaching. Watanabe held the comically oversized gun, drones keeping it levitated. He laughed madly. “I rather bury all of you with me than let you steal my Treasure! You won't have me! YOU WON'T HAVE ME!”“This whole place is gonna come down!” Chie said.Yosuke nodded. “He's breaking down his own mind. We gotta end this quick. Go after their leader.” A quick spell made their movements quicker, then they rushed towards the black clad man, who was facing Yu. Her lungs burned as she sprinted across the lab, hearing the staccato of Aigis' guns and explosions somewhere to the right, Yosuke, a bit faster than her, sprinting just to the front left.Another cry, the smell of ozone, and the sight of Yosuke desperately dodging away from a Ziodyne bolt told her he was intercepted, Sakamoto sprinting at him full tilt. “Go!” Yosuke shouted, twirling his kunai and rushing to meet his challenger.She continued. Amamiya had called forth a woman with a skull face who threw ice magic at Yu, sending him to the ground in pain.The distance between them quickly vanished. And then, suddenly, her leg felt a short sting and didn't move. She fell forward, catching herself on her hand, and forcing herself up. The whip that had tripped her quickly untangling as Takamaki recalled it. She wagged a finger. “No fair ganging up on our leader.”Chie watched as Yu wasn't given a chance to breathe, shivering as he was encased in ice once more. Then she had to give her full attention to the flames that her own opponent threw at her. She retorted with a Bufudyne, which sent Takamaki to the ground. Rather than follow up, Chiebroke into a sprint.Yu, clearly hurting and in pain, got up. He had discarded his gas mask during the struggle, and his pain was clear on his face. Teeth chattering, he charged.Chie was too far. Again, Amamiya tore off his mask. Again, the skull headed Persona appeared and a freezing mass flew towards their leader, who was going too fast to dodge.Then Scathach appeared between them. She smiled coldly and welcomed the spell with open arms, rushing through it. Behind her, Yu's gait became steadier as his wounds healed. Then, once he was up close, and dodging was impossible, Scathach released a Garudyne, and once more the Phantom Thief Leader was sent flying, landing heavily.“YES! I got him now!” Watanabe laughed. Amamiya had landed right in front of the large gun. He scrambled upwards. All other fights stopped as everyone, including Chie, moved to try to stop it, but he was too far.A gunshot rang out.There was a small explosion from the oversized weapon. When Watanabe pulled the trigger there was just a hissing sound and smoke. Amamiya jumped to his feet and out of the line of fire. Everyone's eyes went to the shooter.Naoto slowly raised her smoking gun. Watanabe glared at her. “You... you traitors. You're with them! You led them to me and now you're handing me to them! Traitors! Everyone's against me! My genius brought down by children and traitors!”As he spoke, the 'uniforms' they wore vanished. Chie wasn't regretful of losing the weight of the armour. The Phantom Thieves quickly formed up, visibly wary, but weapons lowered. Watanabe's yelling lowered to resentful muttering as he sat down on the ground, wrapping his hands around his knees..Amamiya adjusted his gloves. “Hm, thanks for the save there. I suppose that settles the question whether you're cognitions.”Their side of the team also gathered. The fight was over, but there was still a tension that suggested it could restart if the conversation went the wrong way. Yu spoke first. “I suppose we had some similar initial reactions. And once combat starts, it can be difficult to end. But we did not come here to fight you, Amamiya-san.”The masked figure raised a hand. “Joker, if you please.”Naoto gave an irritated look. “Are you still going to keep up a charade. We know who you are.”He smiled and bowed. “Got to keep up some traditions, even if we're unmasked. Well played, Shirogane-san. I shouldn't have taken you so lightly.”Chie noticed how Naoto was trying very hard not to look pleased with herself. “So eh... can we talk now?” she asked.“What about?” Niijima asked. “This guy? Shido's collaborator you seem to be trying to save? We appreciate what you did, Shirogane-san, but if you let us do our job, your save wouldn't have been needed.”“Why are you going after him anyway?” Akihiko said. “Honestly, the guy wasn't getting anywhere. The cops would have gotten him eventually.”Sakamoto shrugged. “Consider it doin' our civic duty. When we clean up a conspiracy, we like to be thorough. No spots missed.”“Yeah, sure, he might go to prison, but when he's going there, we want him to regret his actions,” Takamaki said.“Besides, it is not as if he is completely harmless. The fact that you are here suggests he has the knowledge and the skill to access the Metaverse.”“Well yeah, but we're the good guys,” Chie said.The answer this time was a telling silence. The masks did little to hide the obvious distrust.“Alright, what the hell?” Yosuke stepped forward. Chie couldn't fault him for losing his temper. She was getting angry, and she wasn't a Phanboy. “What's the deal with the cold shoulder here? We're good guys, you're good guys. We all got Persona. Something weird is up. We should work together. Is this about some of us being cops? I'm sure they're not planning to bust you. Heck, I think you're doing good work. But if you got a problem with us, out with it.”There was another silence, but this time, all eyes went to Amamiya. He gave a slight smile. “Always good to meet a fan. Honestly, the Inaba crew, I have little problem with. Exposing a corrupt cop, solving mysterious murders. However...” He looked at Okumura.“One is often judged by the company one keeps. And you are in the company of Mitsuru Kirijo, leader of the Kirijo group and the Shadow Operatives,” she finished. “And there is no way we will allow the Kirijo Group to gain any more knowledge on the Metaverse than they already have.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

There was a sharp intake of breath, as Mitsuru froze. “I am the reason for your suspicion? Explain yourselves.” She commanded.“The Shadow Operatives. An organization that works together with the police force, but lacks any official stature or oversight. It is distrusted even by those who work with them. They are known to deal with mysterious crimes with equally mysterious methods. Even Shido, with all his influence, could hinder them, but not subvert or destroy them,” Niijima said. “But we've seen what 'police' do if they have no oversight.”Kitagawa continued. “Of course, this was cause for some wariness, so we investigated further. And we could not avoid looking into the Iwatodai dorms in 2009. The death of your father and the school's director. But more troublesome is how many orphaned people found their way there, and the fates of some of them. Ken Amada, orphaned in mysterious and suspiciously uninvestigated circumstances, was brought to that place, despite being a middle school student. Shinjiro Aragaki, an orphan, delinquent student with a terrible attendance record suddenly is brought into those dorms. A month later, he's dead.”Akihiko stepped forward, as if to say something, but Mitsuru raised her hand and he stopped.Amamiya took over, no smirk on his face this time, his voice deadly serious. “We know how easy it is for orphans to be used by those in power. Yukari Takeba, not an orphan but estranged from her mother, and her father dead in the mysterious explosion in 1999, blamed for it, then suddenly having his name cleared. Then there's Yuki Makoto. He lost both his parents and his sister in that accident. He too joined those dorms. He too died from an unexplained condition.”This time, Chie could see anger in Aigis’ posture. That almost never happened.“But while lookin' into all that, we also found out about a trio called Takaya Sakaki, Jin Shirato and Chidori Yoshino.” Sakamoto said. “Pretty creepy folks apparently. First two of them dead under mysterious circumstances the police doesn't seem to worry too much about, the third spends a long while in a coma, coming back with some serious amnesia. Oh, and guess what, orphans again. But that's when shit gets really effed up.”Takamaki took over. She wasn't even trying to hide her anger. “We looked into them, and they were apparently part of some 'philanthropic organization' who 'looked after orphans.' An organization with ties to the Kirijo group. We found the list. It wasn't hidden that well. Who goes looking for what happens to orphans, right? All those kids? They went in, and that's the last anyone saw of them. No marriages, no high school records, not even parking tickets. They all just vanished. What happened to those kids, Kirijo! What happened to all of them?”The Phantom Thieves had spread out a bit as they talked, Amamiya holding the centre. It reminded Chie a bit of wolves circling a larger prey. Aegis and Akihiko's eyes followed, equally tense, looking ready to fight. Mitsuru was staring straight ahead. She reminded Chie of a defendant hearing a court's accusation.“You do not have all the....” Naoto started, but Mitsuru reacted, raising a hand again.“Thank you, Shirogane. But I feel it falls to me to say this. This is part of making up for what was done.” She looked straight at Joker now. “My grandfather, Kouetsu Kirijo, former leader of the Kirijo Group was a vile monster of a man, comparing unfavourably even to the likes of Masayoshi Shido. In his thirst for power and knowledge, he, and those with him tortured and killed at least a hundred orphans, leaving the survivors broken and dying. Four of them are known to me. The three people you mentioned, and a fourth called Sho Minazuki. My grandfather created artificial life, and then tortured those he created. And when the knowledge he found was too great, he broke himself, and tried to bring about the end of the world.”“The explosion in 1999 that claimed his life was the result of his attempt to bring this about. It failed thanks to the sacrifice of Eiichiro Takaba, Yukari Takeba’s father. It claimed the lives of many other innocent people, and marked Yuki Makoto, tying him to the entity that had been called forth.”Aigis spoke up. “And that is my crime to admit, Mitsuru-san. I was activated at the time with the single purpose of defeating Shadows. I was less than I am now, a puppet, a machine with a purpose. I was unable to destroy the shadow that threatened humanity, but I could seal it away. Yuki Makoto was there, and so I sealed the Shadow inside of him. Then I was deactivated.”Mitsuru continued. “My father, Takeharu Kirijo, took over the Group. He discontinued all those practices. He was well aware of the evils that were committed, and the threat that still remained. He investigated, even though he had no Persona. I developed a Persona and I wanted to help him. I asked to be allowed to fight. It took a while, but on the advice of Shuji Ikutsuki, one of the surviving scientists, someone he trusted, we searched and found other Persona users, all of my age, and we started to fight Shadows.” She sighed. “At the time, I thought I was relieving my father's guilt. Now that I'm an adult myself, I realize I probably added to it. Sending children in danger is wrong, but the situation was desperate.”Chie was reminded of the first meetings with the Shadow Operatives, and Mitsuru's reluctance to involve them.Akihiko spoke. “They found me and Shinjiro. We grew up in the same orphanage. We weren't pressured into it. We were eager to show our worth. We were dumb kids. And we screwed up. Shinjiro and I were always competing against each other. Pushing ourselves. We didn't control our Persona as well as we could. And one night, Shinjiro lost control of his Persona. An innocent woman died. Rumiko Amada, Ken Amada's mother. “He sighed. “Shinjiro walked away from all of it. Let's be clear. Yeah we were kids, but we weren't forced into it. We didn't really get far with just the two of us. But with Ikutski's help, we used Gekkoukan High School to find others. Not quite as young, more stable. We found several of them, among them Yuki Makoto and Yukari Takeba, and we gathered in that dorm. Everyone there was a Persona user, except Ikutsuki.”“Shinjiro died at the hands of Takaya Sadaki to protect Ken Amada. He, Shirato and Yoshino were a group called Strega together. They used their power for their own ends, even as they were dying. They wanted to stop us. Yoshino turned against them because one of us reached out to her. But what had happened caused her to suffer another injury. Takaya and Shirato fought us repeatedly. We didn't try to kill them. We didn't strike a finishing blow. We don't even really know how they died. Perhaps Shadows killed them. Perhaps what was done to them finally finished them off.” Akihiko said. “Ikutsuki was a traitor. He was trying to bring about the end like Kouetsu Kirijo. He tried to kill us all. Takeharu Kirijo saved us all, but died in the process. Which leaves... Yuki Makoto.”Aegis took over. “In the end, we faced something far beyond humans. We hid the details because we do not want people to go look after it, again. But we sought to end the threat Kouetsu Kirijo had created permanently. We fought, and we got far but in the end, our strength was not enough. But he did something. And we won. Humanity is saved. But what he did, killed him. He wasn't forced. Nobody could have forced him. I am the one who put the choice on him, but he is the one who made the choice.”She glared at Amamiya in challenge. “If you must condemn me, I'll accept it. But I won't have you treat his sacrifice like he was some poor victim dragged into that. I will not allow anyone to insult his memory like that.”“Same with Shinjiro,” Akihiko said. “He'd be seriously pissed at me if I let people think he was some poor kid that died like a lamb to the slaughter.”“So what is it going to be, Phantom Thieves?” Mitsuru said. “Do you feel we have any twisted desires in need of taking?”Chie was quiet. They'd known parts of the story. But only enough to know that it was a really painful subject.The Phantom Thieves were looking at each other hesitantly. Sakamoto spoke first. “Eh, I ain't feelin' very 'got you, you twisted bastard' anymore, I gotta say.”Kitagawa was more measured. “They sound earnest, but others have done so in the past. Is there evidence?”Niijima shook her head. “Any evidence that they can present, they can falsify. But I'm inclined to believe them. If they were going to lie, they could have made a lie that made them look better.”“I understand Kirijo-san's position regarding her father, though she has hidden her grandfather's crime's still. But I do not think they are evil,” Okumura said.Takamaki said, “yeah, it wouldn't really feel right to go after them now.”There was a small pause, then Amamiya spoke. “Alright. Then I guess... provided this isn't all some huge trick, I'd like apologize to you.” He made an elaborate bow. “It's kind of surprising to find an adult in a position of power who is not a corrupt scumbag. I'm not going to say I'm happy with the Shadow Operatives thing myself, but we're all decent people here.”“I have a question, if we are going to be open about things,” Naoto said.“Goro Akechi, right?” Amamiya said sadly. Naoto nodded. “Like Shido's confession said, Goro Akechi could also access the Metaverse, and used it to cause psychotic breakdowns and mental shutdowns in people. He used his power to do the former, a gun to do the latter. He was Shido's illegitimate son. He wanted to help Shido to get as high up as he could, only to expose him then as his revenge. He wasn't... well. He confronted us in Shido's Palace and we defeated him. Then, one of Shido's mental defences, a cognition of Akechi himself showed up. Akechi attacked the cognition, then caused a barrier to fall between us. He asked us to deal with Shido. We heard two gunshots. Then we didn't hear anything. He is most likely dead.”Naoto nodded. “No evidence I suppose?” Amamiya shook his head. “Nonetheless, it seems to fit your usual methods. I do not agree with your methods, but I never considered you murderers.”“So, one thing I noticed. Narukami-san, you have multiple Personas as well. Would I be right to think that you too faced worse than a corrupt cop, and that Yuki Makoto was also able to use multiple Personas?” Amamiya said.Yu's eyes widened. “Yes. I thought some of what was happening seemed familiar. You have been to the Velvet Room? You've met Igor?”Amamiya nodded. “Yeah. And so, to get to the subject you've been trying to talk to us about for such a long time:yes, there is someone interfering with humanity. On the 24th of December, when we realized something was very wrong, we found it: The Holy Grail. It is responsible for much what is happening. We fought it. We lost. We were being erased from the world.”Several of the Phantom Thieves looked disturbed at that. Amamiya continued. “I managed to... get us a second chance. But it's the absolute final shot. Do or die. We were not prepared last time. So, we're honing our skills, gathering equipment. And while we're at it, we're doing some cleaning up. More specifically dealing with twisted hearts like the good Dr. Watanabe here.”“Well, that's great!” Yosuke said. “Good thing you waited, because you've got some experienced old hands at this. Let's give that Holy Grail a big surprise and hit him hard!Mitsuru nodded. “Yes, whatever differences of opinion we have can wait until after this threat is defeated. I propose cooperation on this matter.”Amamiya smiled. “Thanks. It's really good to see people to stick their neck out. But I regret to say that we're gonna have to decline.”Chie added her own cries of protest to the chorus, but Amamiya raised his hands. “Hear me out. It's not just the trust issue, but more importantly, to the Holy Grail this is a game. A game all of us Phantom Thieves got invited in. If we start breaking the rules, things could get bad really quickly. You could ruin everything. We can't allow you to interfere.”Mitsuru answered with a polite smile. “I cannot force you to work with us, Amamiya-san. But neither will we stand by. As you see, we have managed to find our way into the Metaverse already. With or without your help, we will act.”“Yes, thanks to the good doctor Watanabe here, hm? He's not going to be much help for you after his change of heart though, Kirijo-san.” Amamiya said equally politely. “Thank you for finding him. Tacking him down was really very annoying.”“And that I cannot allow. I understand that he is a contemptible man who deserves a prison sentence. But we need his knowledge. If you try to steal his Treasure, then I will stop you. Without using lethal force, naturally,” Mitsuru said.“And we will return that favour. In the interest of avoiding harm, I should tell you that when we take the Treasure, this place will start to fall apart. I'd ask you to back off for your safety, but I can see that's not happening,” Amamiya said.“Indeed. And you seem quite confident you will take it.”“Confident enough to say that if we don't get the Treasure within ten minutes, we'll concede defeat and pull back,” Amamiya said.Chie, like most people had been paying attention to the conversation. So she was startled when Naoto suddenly spoke out. “We are missing two Phantom Thieves. They must have someone else.”Amamiya smirked. “So very sharp, Detective Prince Naoto Shirogane, but too late.” He snapped his finger. “Showtime, Oracle!”The hologram map of the facility suddenly blinked out, and instead there appeared a message. “Download complete: Now playing recording.” From behind the servers, a black sphere rose. The rainbow coloured lights on it forming a smiley face.“Finally! I don't mind hiding for a bit, but I didn't want to be left out for this. Time to see what you're hiding, Watanabe-san.” A female voice rose from within the globe.“No! NO! STOP IT! MY FILES!” Watanabe cried, trying to block the hologram, even if it was far too large.The hologram suddenly changed. It showed an office, with Watanabe standing in front of Masayoshi Shido.“... and I think this research program is a waste of the tax dollars of the people of Japan. That is why I am suggesting it be terminated. There is no reason for you to waste your time begging,” Shido's voice said.Watanabe answered. “I was surprised, Shido-san. I know you were always someone who showed interest in these areas. But I'm not here to plead. I suspect tax dollars are not the reason. I've noticed how many of your political opponents and other problematic figures been having mental issues. A lot of sudden psychotic breakdowns.”“Are you making accusations, Watanabe? Do you dare?” Shido said.“If I'm wrong, then what I tell you now, won't matter. Our research is almost ready for publishing. If you shut us down, even if you lock up the lab, tonight, Wakaba has her own copies. It'll be published tomorrow. Not quite rigorously done, but enough that people in power might make the connections between this research and your sudden bout of luck.” Watanabe's voice sounded nervous.Shido glared at him. “What do you want?”Watanabe smiled. “I'm here to help you, Shido-san. You clearly have some insight, some tool to do more than theorize about Cognitive Psience. All I ask, is that I be allowed to work for you. To be your chief scientist. I can see which way the wind is blowing.”“And Wakaba?”“She's been telling me how she needs a vacation after this. About how she really needs to spend some more time with her daughter. A single mother running a project like this is surely under a lot of stress. If she were to have a bit of a mental breakdown and destroy her research, well, it would just go to show that running a project like that is a man's job. You'd have all the data of course. And you'd be the only one.”Shido pondered this, then stood, extending a hand. “I like the way you think, Watanabe-san. Very well, we have a deal.” As the handshake connected, the hologram blinked out.The Shadow Watanabe was visibly wilting under the mass of disgusted looks he was getting.“Mom thought the world of you,” Sakura said. She'd allowed her Persona to vanish.“I never wanted her to die. I just thought they were going to have her go crazy for a bit,” he said, pleading.“She trusted you. She always said you were one of the few people she could count on to really engage with as an equal when it came to research. She invited you to my birthday party!” Her accusations rose to a crescendo.Watanabe fell to his knees. “She was... she was better than me. Her brilliance was a once in a generation thing. She could have... accomplished so much. So much more than I. I destroyed it, all that knowledge, because I couldn't... take being second. What kind of scientist am I?”Sakura was merciless. “No kind of scientist at all. Just a criminal. You should go back. Stop running and hiding. Confess. Go to jail.”“No!” Mitsuru said, but it was too late.“Yes, I'll go to my real self, and tell him to accept the consequences.” With that, there was a golden light, and the shadow vanished.Sakura stood, fists clenched, as Amamiya took her shoulder. “We need to go now.” He turned towards Mitsuru and the others. “And so do you. Sorry about this. But the best way to win a game is to cheat, we have found. Leave this to us, alright? It'll be better that way.”And with that, there was a rumbling, the lights flickered and bits of plaster started to come down from the ceiling.It was time to go.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Mitsuru Kirijo's day was not going well. They'd been accused, tricked and beaten. And now she was running through a crumbling building. They rushed their way up the stairs next to the elevator. By the time they were at the exit, they were dodging man-sized boulders. There was no time to rest, as even the roads started to crack and splinter. The mysterious bus was waiting for them with running engines.“Mission failure I guess.” The voice said with disappointment, and Mitsuru bit back a retort in favor of focusing on the road. “Did you see them?”“Yeah.” Narukami said. “We didn't quite agree, but at least we all learned a lot.” Mitsuru scowled as she dodged a rift and turned onto the street with Watanabe's lab. “Are you going to be alright?”“Don't worry about me, I can get out of here easily. Now, get out the way you got in. We'll talk later!”With that, the group rushed back into the warehouse, leaving behind the mysterious van and the mysterious voice, even as the whole world started to collapse, leaping through the portal back into the real world.Once there, they could finally take a breather, each in their own way. Shirogane went deep in thought, Narukami started to fuss over everyone's well being and Akihiko punched a wall in frustration. Not helping everyone to calm down was the weeping Dr. Watanabe, or the smirk on Iwai's mouth.Still, time for the Shadow Operatives leader to step up. “Alright. We'll do this the hard way then. Aigis, Shirogane, start making careful notes of the configuration of all the devices, then we can start to take them apart and rebuild this elsewhere. The rest of you, time to start gathering all the paper and computers we have here. We have a Holy Grail to find.”Everyone had just started to move when Aigis suddenly looked at the door. “We have company, once again.”The door was slammed open. A squad of armed policemen stormed in. Mitsuru raised her hands promptly, followed by the others. Annoying, but nothing she hadn't dealt with before. But how had they gotten here already?As soon as things had calmed down, the acting SIU Director Sae Niijima came down the stairs, motioning the policemen to stand down. “If it isn't Dr. Watanabe himself. I would commend you, Satonaka-san, Sanada-san, if you hadn't completely disregarded my orders of what to do once you found him.Mitsuru saw the two of them fidget and stepped forward. “Niijima-san, they acted on my instructions. I am Mitsuru Kirijo, leader of the the Shadow Response Unit of the Security Department. This is a matter of national security. I would prefer to talk about this in private.”Niijima gave her a curt nod. “I was aware, Kirijo-san, but I'm afraid that doesn't quite excuse them since you don't actually have the authority to overrule my instructions. And you don't need to worry about my men. They follow orders, but they are less interested in what we talk about than what they are going to have for dinner tonight. No offence, sergeant.”“None taken, Director. It's none of my business, and besides, we're having sushi.” The policeman said with an easy smile.“Ah, and could one of you give the keys to the handcuffs to one of the officers so that Iwai-san can leave. I think him being here is embarrassing to everyone involved.” Iwai gave the woman a glare. Akihiko gave her a questioning look, and Mitsuru nodded. Iwai was released, responded to a rote offer of medical assistance with an impolite grunt. He gave Akihiko and Chie a nod and left.“I know the identity of the Phantom Thieves. I know your sister Makoto is one of them. You have no intention of catching them, but that is not my concern.” She had been hoping to put the woman on the defensive, but neither she nor the policemen reacted.“I assure you, my attitude towards the Phantom Thieves is not because of Makoto,” Niijima calmly responded. “Anything else?”“We have also found out that the affliction spreading in Japan is not the result of Watanabe's activities or even related to the conspiracy. This is no longer a criminal matter or a matter for the SIU,” Mitsuru said.Niijima’s eyes narrowed slightly. But she nodded. “It is not,” she agreed.“The equipment and data here will need to be studied and analysed for us to deal with this threat. I will have trusted people within hours here to collect everything, and we'll be out of your hair,” Mitsuru said calmly.“No,” came the equally calm reply. “We are of course not qualified to research any of this material, but I am qualified to see that this research is a threat to national security. None of this leaves this basement. We have people with sledgehammers and incinerators on their way now. And we will of course take Dr. Watanabe to a hospital where he can recover for his eventual confession and incarceration.”“I do not think you have the authority to forbid the Security Department from accessing resources needed in their function.” She knew it was likely a futile move but she had to try.“I think I would have a good case here. A moot point, since you are not an official part of the Security Department or indeed, government service, Kirijo-san. Now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave this building.” She nodded at one of the cops. The message was clear. If she wanted to push the issue, she would need to use force. And those were more consequences than they could deal with now.She curtly nodded. There was no points in pushing the issue. “I see. I regret your choice, but I see there is no changing your mind. We will take our own gear with us, however.”Niijima nodded. “Very well. But I will require the usb drive I gave you.”“The usb... no!” Shirogane suddenly jumped and ran towards the laptop. A few moments later she cursed. “Damn it all! It's completely dead. And what's more...” There was a little crack as Shirogane opened up the usb stick.. “A transmitter. That's how they found us! She's been spying on us the whole time and giving the information to the Phantom Thieves.”“I can guarantee you I have not been getting any information from your laptop. Though some concerned, anonymous citizens did tell me where to find you.” Niijima said. “One told me that the best way to win a game is to cheat.”Shirogane tossed the usb drive on the ground in rage and stomped on it. “You think this is amusing? You are supposed to be leading the best of the best in police. You're supposed to be honest and just. You are a disgrace!” The policemen in the room briefly paid attention, but as soon as it was clear that Shirogane wasn't going to do anything that required their intervention, they continued their vigil in polite indifference.Niijima folded her arms and glanced down at her. “I'd accuse of you of naiveté, but considering you are a private detective that was asked by her government to investigate a secret organization, and decided to instead align herself with them, I believe hypocrisy is the correct accusation.”“Are you really going to let those kids handle all that themselves?” Narukami said.This time, Niijima’s composure briefly wavered. She looked away. “I... once asked them to leave things to adults. That we would handle it. But we couldn't. I couldn't. I trust them to handle this the best way possible. You should as well.” She looked around. “Look, you all have studies and careers. I suggest you get to them. I do honestly thank you for finding Watanabe. So I'm going to let things slide. But if you go after the kids or their families, I'm going to come after you. And none of you are beyond my reach, trust me.”No more needed to be said. The group left the building. Outside, policemen politely nodded to them as they taped the building down.A quick message to the company arranged for the truck to be recovered. Shirogane’s car was fortunately large enough, if barely, to seat all of them. The detective once again smacked the steering wheel. “I will find them. We should find and defeat this Holy Grail if only to deny them the satisfaction of having beaten us.”Mitsuru had taken the shotgun position and pondered. “We should get to one of our labs. With our memories still fresh, we could start up a crash research.”“You don’t have the time.” A voice sounded from below her seat. The same voice that had come from the van. “Don’t react. People are watching you. Sae Niijima put a tail on you. Drive off, calmly. They won’t be able to follow.”Shirogane started the car. Mitsuru looked into the rear view mirror, noticing two people that were sitting in a car further away perk up. As the detective steered them out, the other car remained stationary though.“Heh, I’m afraid they won’t be getting anywhere without this.” A spark plug was tossed between her feet, quickly followed by a black furred face. “Good, we can meet face to face at least.”‘It’s the cat from the restaurant,” she exclaimed. Immediately, she had Narukami looking over her shoulder.“Of course. Amamiya was noted to always have a cat with him, up until recently.”“I’m not a cat,” came the annoyed response. “I’m the van that got you to the Palace and back. I am Morgana. And I,” his voice deflated a bit. “Used to be part of the Phantom Thieves.”“The eighth Phantom Thief,” Shirogane said. “The small figure with the large head.”“You don’t need to say it like that. And I’ll have you know I’m a founding member! Was a founding member,” Morgana said.“So what happened?” Chie asked.“That’s a long story. What did Joker say?” Morgana said.“There’s something called The Holy Grail that’s responsible for the way people are acting. You fought it and lost. The Phantom Thieves are gathering strength for a last attempt at fighting him,” Akihiko said.“That’s almost all true. Except for one thing. Joker sold us out to the Holy Grail,” Morgana said.“What?” Hanamura said. “Come on. No way.”“I didn’t want to believe it myself. After we were defeated, the Holy Grail left us in Shibuya, with all the bones and the blood. Because the people stopped believing in us, we were fading from existence, one by one. When I woke up, I was in a cell in a place called the Velvet Room. It’s there that one of the people who live there, a woman called Lavenza, got me out.”“Silver hair, golden eyes, blue outfit?” Narukami asked.“Oh, you’ve been there? That’ll make this easier. Yeah. I was born there as well. She told me that Joker had freed her from the Holy Grail’s influence. But that it had then offered Joker a deal. It would the return the world like it was, but with people rapidly giving up their free will and the Phantom Thieves would continue to operate.” There was a silence. “She said Joker took the deal.”“Do you believe her?” Narukami asked.“I didn’t. She wanted to flee together. I accused her of trying to trick me.That’s when Joker and the Holy Grail came in. I managed to hide, she didn’t. The Holy Grail commanded Joker to lock her away and go get his friends, and Joker… obeyed him.”“I had to sneak my way out of there. When I made my way up to the normal world, the Phantom Thieves were in business, and the Grail’s had his hands on almost everyone in Tokyo. I don’t know what Joker told the others. Probably the same lie he sold you.”For a few seconds the hum of the engine was the only sound. Hanamura looked especially dismayed. “They… isn’t it possible this is some kind of double bluff by them? Like, waiting for the right moment to stab the Grail in the back?”“I’m not willing to take the chance. Time is not on our side. Morgana, where is the Holy Grail, and can you get us to it?”Morgana nodded. “I think so. The Holy Grail is in kind of a collective Palace. It’s called Mementos. It’s like an endless warren of subway tunnels filled with Shadows, and at the bottom there is the Prison of Regression. In the deepest depths there is the Holy Grail. He is empowered by all the people who give up their free choice to let him handle things.”“I don’t mind fighting my way down into that place, but how are we gonna get inside? Is there some secret trick?” Akihiko asked.“I can move in there at will because I’m a being of the Velvet Room, but I can’t take you with me. The others all got an app on their phone. It was put there by the Holy Grail itself.”“You want us to steal one of the Phantom Thieves’ phones?” Mitsuru said. “That is dangerous. They know us and will be on their guard.”“Oh no, you’d put them on even higher alert. But there is one person who had access to the Metaverse whose phone is unaccounted for.”“Goro Akechi!” Shirogane said.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Goro Akechi was dead.It was not a surprise. Morgana had warned them ahead of time. But there is knowing, and there is being faced with the body. He’d been dead for a while, an unpleasant sight despite the winter cold. The stench of death mixed with the stink of their surroundings: an abandoned lot that was used to dump garbage.Mitsuru had taken one glance to confirm the identity, and then taken her distance, along with the others, letting Aigis do the unpleasant work of reclaiming what they were coming for. Only Shirogane was looking on, her face pale but otherwise a stony mask. Morgana had taken up position on top of Narukami’s shoulder to avoid moving his paws through the refuse.“How did you know where to find him, Morgana?” Mitsuru asked, partly to drown out the sound of Aigis’ morbid work. “It’s not like I found him right away. I went to look for him because he was the only lead I had to someone who might help. But I figured, it should be somewhere not too far from Shido’s Palace, probably. I first started looking at places near water, but I didn’t find anything. Then I figured that cognition is really important, and Akechi, when he died, might have gone to where… he felt he belonged.”“A garbage heap?” Narukami said in dismay.Morgana sighed, an odd sound to come from a cat. “Akechi had some serious issues. He always seemed to call Ren trash, but was obsessed with wanting to be thought of as useful, at wanting to be kept around. I guess that’s not strange, considering what he told us about his past. So, I started looking for places where there was a lot of garbage, especially near the Diet building.”Again, there was a silence, interrupted by Aigis. “I have retrieved Goro Akechi’s smartphone. It seems to be in working order”“Alright. Now remember, don’t activate it where it can send a signal. Futaba’s got it full of spyware. Clean it first, then, if the App is still on there, we have our ticket in,” Morgana said.“Alright, let’s get out of here. I don’t wanna spend a moment longer here than I got to.” Chie said. “Though should we leave the corpse? I mean, it’s kind of...”“If his body is found, the Phantom Thieves will soon be alerted. They will be on their guard if that happens,” Mitsuru said. “For the sake of our mission, we will have to delay a proper treatment of his body. We cannot dawdle.” Aigis nodded, Akihiko following with some reluctance. The members of the old Investigation Team looked at their leader however.Narukami nodded sadly. “It can’t be helped. After all this, he’s left behind again. I do feel sorry for him.”“Sorry for him?” Shirogane’s voice was tense and strained, her mask of calm showing some cracks. “He is a serial killer, a hitman, and a terrorist. Feel sorry for his victims.”“I can do both,” Narukami said. “What point is there in being angry at him now? He’s already paid for his crimes.”“He has not!” Shirogane said, struggling to keep her voice at low volume. “To stand trial. To confess. To accept the consequences. That would be paying for his crimes. It is not even about how long his sentence is. As long as the people he’s hurt over the years, that ones that are still alive, can know that the one who has done it has not gone free. This is not paying for his crimes, this is escaping them.” She motioned towards the body.“You’re going too far, Naoto. From what they told us, he most likely saved the lives of the Phantom Thieves.” Narukami said.“He saved them so they could go after Shido, the object of his vengeance,” Shirogane said. “It was just one last life for him to toss away.”“Why are you so angry? I know it’s not about the Detective Prince thing,” Narukami said. “Considering your job, you’ve seen plenty of terrible criminals, but you never took it so personally.”“It’s not just that he murdered, not just that he turned other people into tools for his murder. Those are crimes are horrific, and I would show little sympathy for the culprits. But it wouldn’t anger me as much. But by turning himself into someone standing for justice, by becoming a detective, to ‘catch’ criminals who he himself forced into their crimes, he has befouled that which is sacred to me. Is sacred to my family. I cannot forgive him.”“He was a kid when he approached Shido, Naoto. Kids do stupid things. And it wasn’t like he could back out,” Narukami said harshly.“He was fifteen when that happened. Not an adult, but hardly unable to grasp what he was doing. At that age, I was helping you catch a killer in Inaba.”“And we almost did a stupid thing in a hospital room,” Narukami snapped back.There was a moment of silence as everyone from the old Investigation Team, including Narukami himself, froze in shock. Mitsuru looked at Akihiko, who was the closest to one of its members, but even he seemed to be confused at what they were talking about.Narukami broke the silence again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up.”Shirogane shook her head, her face a bit pale. “No, no… it is germane. I cannot complain about being reminded of my actions. I was angry, and desperate. But I was not too young and stupid to recognize what I suggested was wrong. I simply didn’t care. And if we’d done it, we would have been murderers, as sure as Akechi.”“We had each other to keep ourselves on the right path. He didn’t,” Narukami said softly.“That may be so. But that does not absolve him of the responsibility.”The Investigation Team had always looked so innocent to Mitsuru. Far more wholesome and happy-go-lucky than her own group of friends, without any of the baggage. But everyone had their secrets.“Guys, does it matter?” Hanamura spoke up. “He’s dead. And we’ve got a lot of other things to worry about. The kid is beyond saving, and the crook is beyond catching. We gotta let it go.”The two looked at each other and nodded. Narukami spoke up. “Let’s just get out of here, before someone notices us.”The group left, returning to Mitsuru’s hotel room. Supplies were gathered, showers were taken, Akechi’s cell phone was thoroughly cleaned from Sakura’s spyware with some assistance from Fuuka. There was a discussion about gathering more Persona users, but Morgana opposed it, saying that they were already being watched. If Ren was to find out about Akechi or his smartphone, they might target them to remove it. The discussion was interrupted when Chie alerted them to the television.The news was on, a reporter smiling faintly as she reported on the Phantom Thieves. “Dr. Watanabe had been in hiding for several days, having received multiple Calling Cards from the Phantom Thieves. But it seemed his luck has run out. Police report that he is malnourished but stable, and should be fit to stand trial soon. Dr. Watanabe is believed to be the last member of the Conspiracy that was at large. With his capture, it is expected the Phantom Thieves will return their quest to bring justice to Japan. The international community has reacted with alarm, and the Japanese representative to the UN was asked to say what is being done. Let’s hope he can reassure other countries that everything is okay. On to other news, the cat beauty contest is starting this weekend. Let’s look at some of these pretty kitties...”They turned off the tv. Morgana looked concerned. “Watanabe was the only thing slowing them down really. We can’t waste any time. We have to go after the Holy Grail. The more people that it has under its control, the more powerful it gets.”Mitsuru looked at Aigis and Akihiko, then to the others. As one, they nodded.“Let’s get geared up,” she said.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Yu peered around as they tried to find a calm place in Shibuya to test their gate into the Metaverse and Mementos, acutely aware of the weight of the sword in his duffel bag. They didn’t really have to worry about most pedestrians. They were all busy in their own world, more so than usual. Once you really paid attention to it, it became hard to miss the way the people moved. Obedient to the rules, careless of each other. The Sun God preacher was gone, as was the young musician that was usually playing there. No, he was looking out for police officers. Sae Niijima no doubt would have some looking for them, and any report they gave to her would be sent to the Phantom Thieves. This morning, he’d figured he was going to find them, convince them that he wasn’t going to set the law on them, and find out what was going on. But when he found them, suddenly the law was on the Thieves’ side, and now here they were, sneaking their way into the Metaverse, worrying about being found out.A stairway near an empty platform was suitably empty. They huddled together. Mitsuru held Akechi’s phone. There was a crack in the screen, but the app still worked, an angry dull red. The robotic female voice sounded tinny and distorted. But when the coordinates for Mementos were entered, the same queasy feeling of the portal returned to him, and his Persona were once again there for him to grasp.Morgana looked up at them. In this world he looked like some kind of mascot character. In many ways, he reminded Yu of Teddie. “Alright, let’s get going. The faster we do this the better. I hope you guys are ready for the long haul. Because this is not for the faint of heart.”Yu took out his blade. Looking around he saw Mitsuru ready her own rapier, Chie and Akihiko stretching, Aigis discarding the clothing hiding her robotic nature, Shirogane checking her ammunition, and Yosuke twirling a kunai on his fingers as he picked some music to get him pumped. He smiled. “We’re ready.”Strolling into Mementos with friends at his side, a sword in his hands and Persona bubbling inside his head brought back good memories. Even the gloomy look of the train tracks couldn’t dissuade him.He also supposed it was something of a sign of the experiences they went through that Morgana changing into a van went without too much comment. “Man, I wish Teddie could do this. It’d be really convenient,” Yosuke said.“Who’s Teddie?” Came the sound from the car radio as everyone got into the car. Yu took shotgun as Mitsuru got behind the steering wheel once more.“He was a Shadow once. Originally, he was in the shape of a bear mascot. But he wanted to become human, so he made himself a human body, and got himself a Persona.”“Teddie is unique, and the Shadow Operatives’ scientists are still unsure what to make of him.” Aigis added.“Hah, perhaps he could teach you how to become human too,” Yosuke said.Morgana was silent for a moment. “Let’s focus on the job at hand, team,” he said sternly. “The world depends on this. No time for cloud castles.”In the Palace, they’d only had to fight briefly. It was in making their way through the endless tunnels of Mementos that they realized that they still had the usual power, but their skills had been getting a bit rusty. Morgana gave them a hard time for every mistake. Fortunately, the Shadows near the start were weak, and Morgana knew all their weaknesses. And as they got deeper and deeper, old habits came back and their confidence grew.They were about three quarters of the way in when Mitsuru spoke up. “It’s getting bigger.”“What’s getting bigger?” Chie asked.“Mementos. I’m not as accomplished as Yamagishi, but even I can feel that it’s growing. Not deeper, but wider. It’s spreading,” she said.“Impressive,” Morgana said in a pleased tone. “Yes. About a month ago, Mementos was only underneath Shibuya. Since then, it’s been growing. Every day it’s growing more rapidly, and there’s more and more trains riding.”“Eh, speaking of trains,” came a remark from Akihiko on the rear seat. “I thought you said these tunnels never have traffic, Morgana.Behind them, the front lights of a train came at them. Fortunately, the speed was slow enough that Mitsuru had no problem steering Morgana away, until the train was riding right beside them at their right hand side.Yu looked at it. The carriages were empty. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach.“Mitsuru-san, please take the next left,” he said over the noise of the train next to them.Then there was a light in front of them as another train came at them from the tracks on their left hand side. Mitsuru had no option except to steer Morgana between them. The van shuddered as Morgana gave a nervous cry at the closeness of the two trains.“I’ll slow down and let it pass,” Mitsuru said.“I don’t think they’re going to pass us,” Yu said.As he spoke, the train on their right side slowed down to keep pace with them, the one on their left came to a stop, then started moving along with them. He pulled down the window to look up.The Phantom Thieves were gazing down at him.“Stop the bus. We got company,” Yu said.The van stopped, the trains slowing down and stopping alongside them. As the last of them left, Morgana changed back into his normal form, looking up. “Joker.”“Hey there Mona, long time no see,” Amamiya said with a wry smile and a wave. “I see you made some new friends. First of all: you got Akechi’s phone. Is he...”“He’s dead,” Mitsuru said solemnly. “We found his corpse in a garbage lot four kilometres east of the Diet building.”“I see…” Amamiya said. “Thanks… for telling us. We expected it, but it’s good to know. We’ll make sure his body is taken care of.” Then he looked down at them. “You shouldn’t be here. Mona, what’s up? Why did you bring them here? Why did you leave?”“You know perfectly well, Joker. You betrayed humanity to the Holy Grail!” Morgana said.The Phantom Thieves reeled back. “Mona? What? No! Where did you get that idea?”“Lavenza told me, before she was captured,” Mona said.Amamiya looked at him with a confused expression. “Who is Lavenza? What are you talking about?”Morgana sputtered. “Y… you know who she is. She was there when you took the Holy Grail’s deal. She works in the Velvet Room. She broke me out.”Joker looked down shaking his head. “Mona. There’s two attendants and they’re called Justine and Caroline.” He looked angry. “The Grail must be toying with your memory”Morgana’s will seemed to die. He looked up at Yu and the others. “No, no I’m a creation of the Velvet Room. I was Hope and they… I know what I saw… right… I think?”Yu saw the doubt. And for the first time he was actually angry at the Phantom Thieves. “How did you know we were here, Joker?” he asked loudly.“Pft, don’t underestimate me. I can track anyone in Mementos,” Oracle said.“No, how did you know we were in Mementos? When last we saw us, you seemed pretty certain we weren’t going to make it into the Metaverse,” he pressed.Amamiya shrugged with a smirk. “Lucky strike. We just happened to go in for some extra training.” But Yu could see Okumura and Niijima exchange troubled glances.“What about the trains?” Naoto spoke up. “If I understand it correctly, these trains serve the Holy Grail, do they not? Yet they seem to heed you now.”Another shrug. “I have some special abilities. Probably something to do with how the Phantom Thieves are getting famous.”“No wait, you showed the ability right after Christmas Eve. It was a way for us to get around in Mementos,” Niijima said, turning towards Amamiya.“Yeah, how did we suddenly become so famous? People were doubting we even existed before we vanished. Then suddenly it all changed,” Sakura said, mirroring the gesture.“I don’t know either. Look, once we face the Holy Grail, we’ll get our answers,” Amamiya said, his voice less casual now.“And when is that gonna be? We’re just going after Palaces filled with weak Shadows,” Takamaki said. “You said we were trying to get stronger, but all we’re doing is going after more corrupt adults.”“And each one we defeat we know gets sent to the Prison of Regression. We are not strengthening ourselves. We are strengthening the Grail,” Kitagawa said with dawning horror.One by one, the Thieves jumped down from the train cart, standing besides Yu, looking up with accusing eyes. Amamiya reached out to each of them. “Guys, c’mon. It’s me, Joker. I wouldn’t… please.” He reached out to Sakamoto, who slapped his hand away.“It’s a TRAP!” Yu heard Morgana cry out. Then, a heartbeat later, he heard the voices of the Phantom Thieves call for their Persona at the same time, their voices mingling so he couldn’t make out the word. Then his world became white hot agony as he felt himself get battered by several spells at the same time. When his senses returned he was staring at the ceiling of Mementos. Looking around, the Phantom Thieves were fighting with his friends, preventing them from getting to him. “We’re… not lying. He.. works for the Grail,” Yu tried to say loud enough for the Phantom Thieves to hear.Then he saw red gloves reach down to him and the world spun as he was pulled up to his feet. He was looking into a masked face, the usual smirk now absent. Amamiya. He said two words: “They know.” Yu tried to gather his thoughts, then suddenly, he was pushed back.He managed to prevent himself from falling completely prone, getting up to a sitting position. It was then he noticed he was inside the train compartiment. When the doors started closing, his mind quickly gave the command to try to leap out, but all his body could manage was to get forward on hands and knees as he was sealed in.Amamiya darted away as a gust of magical wind burst against the door. It shook but held. Yosuke appeared, gathering his Persona to make another attempt to free him. Yu was getting on his feet, a cry of warning on his lip when Sakamoto rushed him, delivering a blow with his metal pipe against Yosuke’s back, sending his friend to the ground.Yu staggered to his feet and leaned on the door. It didn’t budge. Sakamoto reached for his skull mask when suddenly Mitsuru’s voice rang out. “MARIN KARIN.”The lightning that would have knocked his friend out never came. The blonde suddenly turned and charged Kitagawa in the back. Mitsuru was standing regally a distance away, throwing spells while Aigis kept Niijima and Okumura at bay.And then he heard Sakura’s voice. “Oh, you like to play those games?” Her Persona hovered above the battlefield like a demented disco ball. “Your friend’s mind isn’t like any computer I’ve seen, but her body’s all ones and zeroes. And that means it’s mine.” She cackled.Aigis suddenly stiffened. “Mitsuru, this is impossible. My physical functions are being overridden.” She turned and faced Mitsuru, her hand shooting out and grabbing her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. She’d been using the train to guard her back. The door opened and all Aigis had to do was step into the train cabin with her, and let the door close behind her.And then, two leaders were out, and all Yu could do was try to shout from the sidelines as one by one they fell, Amamiya giving orders and throwing magical attacks as they went.Naoto tried to take over the coordination and was immediately broughtdown, Okumura and Niijima managing to get in close and immobilizing her, bodily throwing her into one of the trains.Chie and Akihiko fought back to back, shielding each other from attacks on the other’s weakness. But they were given no time to recover or even make a counterattack,until both of them were brought to their knees, and tossed into a carriage.Yosuke had been ducking, dancing, and dodging the whole time, harassing the Phantom Thieves’ teamwork, throwing heals when he could. When Morgana told him to make a break for it to warn others, he broke into a run. Yosuke was fast, but in a straight sprint Sakamoto was faster. Yosuke was tackled to the ground, and one more train door opened and closed as he cursed.Morgana himself was tripped up by Takamaki’s whip, with Okumura immediately pinning him down. And then the fight was over. Morgana was held tightly by Okumura and Sakamoto.“That was dirty, Joker,” Morgana said, staring at him defiantly.“It was, and I’m sorry, Mona. But you always taught us to make sure we have the element of surprise,” Amamiya said. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”“Okay? You’ve betrayed what this was about. All of you!” Morgana called out.“This was about changing the world, and that’s what we’re doing!” Ren shot back. Then he took a breath. “Mona, I don’t want to fight with you. We miss you. Look, can we just… forget about this? You belong with us. It is not that bad. We’re doing good things, stealing treasures, making bad people confess. It’s what we’ve been doing all along. Except we know exactly what we’re doing.”“I can’t, Joker. I was created by the Velvet Room from humanity’s hope. I was supposed to guide you in beating the Holy Grail. Not helping it. Stop this, please.”“We’ve made our choice. And we’re not backing out of it. I spoke to the Holy Grail. I know what you are, and he’s willing to accept you. He could give you a human body, Mona. You can even give the specs. Please, Mona, we miss you.”“C’mon Mona, please?” Takamaki said.“It ain’t the same without you,” Sakamoto said.“Your place is with us, Mona-chan,” Okumura cooed.Morgana took a deep breath,then spoke coldly. “Mona is a name for my team members. For you, Amamiya, I am Morgana.”All the Phantom Thieves winced, but Amamiya actually stepped back, swaying as if he’d been struck. “Alright…” he said, then paused. “Alright, Morgana. If that is what you… you choose.” He gave another look, as if waiting for a change of heart, then nodded at the others. “Put him with Narukami.”Morgana was hauled towards a door. “Let me walk in, you traitors. I don’t need you to push me in.” Yu could hear his voice break, saw him march towards one of the booths, making sure to pick a spot he couldn’t be seen from the outside and slump against the wall. Amamiya was still standing in his spot, taking deep breaths and staring vaguely in front of him. Until finally Sakura spoke up in a tiny voice. “Eh… Joker.. Now what?”Amamiya looked up as if surprised, then swallowed. “I should go… I should go to the Holy Grail. To see what’s gonna... happen now.”“What are you, a puppet?” Mitsuru called harshly from her own prison. “Do you no longer have the courage to make a decision for yourself?”The black coated man looked back at her. “You think I command these trains, Kirijo-san? I don’t decide when those doors open. I don’t decide which way these trains move, or when. Up above, I had leeway. Now that you’re down here, it’s his call. You should not have come here.” He started to walk off, the door of one of the more distant train compartments opening even as it decoupled from the rest of the train.“Joker,” Yu called out. “Talk to me. You need to stop this. You need to…”“Shut up, Narukami,” Joker interrupted him. “I… really don’t want to talk to you right now. Guys, watch them. This shouldn’t take very long.” And then he stepped in, the door closing behind him, and the train took off, whisking him away.“I can’t believe it. I believed in you guys, and this is what you do?” Yosuke banged on the doors.Sakamoto got into a squat. “Whatever man. We hunt down shitty adults and make them confess. Only difference is now we know who’s the one that gave us the power to do it. And we’re not doing this for your approval.”“I don’t care about the criminals you catch. But what about the other people. They never did anything wrong.”“They never did anything!” Takamaki said harshly. “That’s the problem. Everyone knows bad things are happening, but nobody does something about it! If they aren’t gonna use their free will to do things, they’re gonna lose it!”“But… but the Phantom Thieves stand for freedom,” Yosuke said.“We believed that,” Niijima said. “We thought we could inspire people to step forward. All we did was become another authority people could use to step away from their own responsibility. You cannot free people that don’t want to be free.”“In the end, the more you think about it, the less what we did was all about freedom, right? For the sake of justice and protection of people, we took parts of them away to make them do what we wanted. Confess,” Sakura said.“And is this the world you want?” Yu asked. “Have you looked at the world? At the way the people act?”Kitagawa was sitting cross legged on the cold stone. “It is not a world of beauty. It is an ugly thing of colours muted to grey. You are not wrong. But at what price beauty? Is one moment of exultation worth twelve others being thrown in the depths of despair? The people are happy enough in this world.”“There are other ways to improve the world,” Naoto said. “Other ways to go after criminals. I sympathize with your feelings, but there are plenty of people working hard to make the world a better place.”“Like the police?” Niijima said. “I thought of that once. Be a cop, like my father. A Hero of Justice. Because society is just and there’s just some bad people that need to be caught.” She shook her head. “I’ve seen enough Shadows in the last month to know the police are barely better than the people they go after. And the politicians who command them and MAKE those laws are worse. And then there’s the businessmen who fund their campaigns. There is no point in upholding the law. It has nothing to do with justice.” She looked at Akihiko and Chie, who glared back.“If we would step away from it all and beat the Holy Grail, every time we’d read the news about something terrible happening, we would know that we could have stopped it. So we made our choices,” Okumura said with a sad smile.“You mean, Amamiya made his choice,” Mitsuru said. “Morgana told us about how it happened. He struck the deal.”Sakamoto got up. “Yeah, he did. And we chose to follow him. And we’re gonna continue to choose to follow him. If you think you’re gonna talk us into turning our backs on him, then you can go and eff yourselves.”Further appeals to conversation didn’t really go anywhere. It wasn’t long before a train returned, and Joker came out, his face downcast. He went to the middle, so all of his captives could hear him.“I went to the Holy Grail, and I asked him to be merciful. So here’s the good news: you will be allowed to leave Mementos. The Holy Grail decided that you should be put on probation for a year.” There was a faint curl to his lips, but Yu could see there was no real satisfaction in it. “Here are the terms. Whatever roles you had in the world above, they’re going to be taken from you. Homes, bank accounts, studies, big companies and conspiracies, that kind of thing, along with all the connections you’ve got there. People will forget you... both to show you that the world belongs to the Grail, and to give you other things to worry about then going against him. You will find that you will not be allowed to leave Tokyo, and your phones won’t be able to make or receive calls. But you need to keep them on you. At the end of your parole, all you had will be returned to you.”“But here’s the thing. On your phone, once you’re back up there, you will see that all of you have the Metaverse App. The Holy Grail insisted that you be given the choice. You can come down and try to reach him again. But that would violate your parole. We’d stop you.” He looked around. “And you would not be permitted to leave again. You know there is a prison down there. It would be a life sentence for each you. The Holy Grail is convinced that you will try it. I ask you to prove him wrong.”“Amamiya-kun,” Yu started.“That is the verdict. There is no appeal. Goodbye Narukami,” he said, and with a sudden shudder the cars came to life, going back the way they came, towards the surface.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Morgana knew that he was formed of the emotion of Hope of humanity. His memories were fully returned. But laying curled up on the train seat, hearing the engine thud underneath him, it just didn’t feel real.He’d failed. He’d failed again and again. He’d failed when he’d forgotten his memories. He’d failed when he’d had the Phantom Thieves play right into the Grail’s hand. He’d failed when they fought the Grail and all of them were wiped out. He’d failed to guide Joker to reject the Grail’s deal. He’d failed when he hadn’t believed that and caused Lavenza to be caught. And now, he had failed once more. “Morgana-san?” came a voice from neary. He hadn’t even noticed Narukami had approached him.“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “I didn’t… I should have seen the trap earlier.”“You wanted to believe the best of your friends, Morgana-san. That’s not a bad trait to have.”“They’re not my….” friends anymore, he had planned to say, but his throat closed like a vise around the words.“It’s okay. It’ll be alright, Morgana-san. We’ll figure something out, okay?” Yu sat down next to him.He looked up. “What? You’re planning to do something?”“I might have an idea.” Narukami said. “But we’ll see if it works. I’m thinking I shouldn’t talk too loudly about it.” He took out his phone, with the familiar red symbol of the metaverse app on it, and put his finger on his smiling lips.Morgana felt his lips curl into a smile as well. “This better be good, Narukami,” he said. Then sighed. “Are you going to be alright? I… didn’t expect this to happen.”“I have my friends with me. So it’ll be fine,” the man said. “I was willing to risk my life, so risking my bank account and… my education. That’s fine.” Morgana spotted the lie there.“You really like what you’re studying?” he asked.“Yeah. I was inspired to become a teacher because, well, I had some pretty bad teachers while in Inaba, and I like to help people grow. I really hope I’ll get to continue after all this but, you know, there’s no point in becoming a teacher in a world without freedom. So…” Then his eyes widened. “Wait… oh… of course.”“Wait, what? Of course what?” Morgana said. Narukami gave a carefully neutral face. “I think I have something. But we’ll see later. I think the train is slowing down. Let’s group up.”As he spoke, the train came to a stop, and the newly on-probation group gathered up. Satonaka and Sanada were bruised and limping, but had clearly been egging each other on during their trip and were ready to just turn right around and go for round two. Aigis, who’d usually been pretty calm, seemed eager as well. It took Narukami, Kirijo, and Hanamura’s gathered conviction to settle them down enough to realize they weren’t going to accomplish anything in their state.When they left the Metaverse, there was the usual feeling of queasy disorientation. Bruises and injuries faded, but were replaced with a bone-deep weariness. And of course, Morgana felt his body change, hands turning into paws as he got on all fours.They were back in Shibuya station. The sky had darkened. Some folks seemed a bit surprised at their appearance out of nowhere, then shrugged and continued their walk. Seconds later, there was a cacophony of buzzing, beeping and jingles as everyone’s smartphones started clamouring for attention.“Oh… well, he wasn’t lying,” Hanamura said. “Suspended, evicted, bank account closed.”Kirijo too looked at her phone. “It’s… frightening. Even the Shadow Operatives are not immune. I expected to be removed as President of the Kirijo Group, but I had thought that maybe they would go beyond his notice.”“My dojo?” Satonaka exclaimed. “Oh, that Grail is gonna get stomped on.”“Even my model building club.” Narukami sighed. “The Grail is as thorough as it is petty.”Guilt ran like a knife through Morgana. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Because of me, all of you are without a place now.”“That is preposterous,” Shirogane said. “For one, you are in no way, shape, or form responsible for this. More importantly, we are clearly not without a place. We are right here with each other.”“Wow, Naoto. So heartfelt and sweet, almost corny. I didn’t know you had it in you,” Hanamura said with a grin.The detective shot Hanamura a dirty glare. “For better or for worse. Back to matters at hand, we also were informed our phone and internet connections were terminated at the end of this barrage.” She looked at Kirijo.“So we cannot reach out to our friends…” she said.“...and our friends can’t reach out to us.” Narukami finished. There was a moment of silence when Morgana looked around bewildered. That sounded like really bad news, but everyone was just nodding in unspoken agreement about something.Sanada stretched. “You know what we need after all that? Something to eat.”Satonaka nodded vehemently. “Yeah. I mean, with all that went on we didn’t really get anything decent to chow on. Maybe that’s why we lost. I could go for some steak!”“I propose that we leave the choice of venue to Morgana,” Aigis said. “I feel he needs some cheering up. I know that Mitsuru-san always felt a lot better after some dark chocolate.”“Yes, thank you, Aigis. Good idea.” Kirijo hastily prevented further elaboration. “Do you have a favourite dish, Morgana-san?”Everyone’s eyes were on him. Despite everything, Morgana felt a bit better. “I could go for some sushi.”“Very well. I know an excellent sushi restaurant. They bring fish fresh from the harbor daily. We’ll get a private booth. If we skip extravaganza, we should be able to keep it under a hundred thousand, right?” There was a strangled noise from the college students.“Mitsuru-san, how much cash money do you have on you?” Aigis said pleasantly.“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t regularly check…. Oh…” She inspected her purse.“I know a good conveyor sushi place close by. Follow me.” Hanamura motioned.“Ahw, do they have steak there too?” Satonaka said.“You don’t have the money for steak anyway. And be considerate for Morgana’s feelings, you carnivore,” Hanamura said.“Oh, you’re gonna lecture me about tact, ‘captain ressentiment?’” she said.“We weren’t going to bring those up again.”“You started it!”“I wasn’t referring to it. Calling you a carnivore made sense in context!”They bickered as they walked. There was something very familiar in it, but the words were wrong, the people were wrong, and rather than comforting, the familiarity was painful.When they arrived at the sushi place, Morgana tried to lose himself in the delicious sensation of the food. Anything that would allow him not to think for a moment. Sometimes, he’d be involved in the conversation, but he’d answer only briefly.Sanada said, “Mitsuru, why do you keep checking your phone? A being born from humanity’s desires has removed you from both your company and the Shadow Ops. He also cut your network connection. You’d think that’d make you stop checking.”Kirijo slowly put her phone away, as if she wasn't just called out. “My apologies. It is a habit I’ve gotten into when there is a lull in conversation.”“When’s the last time you’ve taken a vacation anyway?” Hanamura asked.Kirijo took a rather defensive posture. “Just nine months ago.”Sanada gave her a skeptical look. “Being down and out with pneumonia isn’t a vacation, Mitsuru.”“I stopped working, didn’t I?” she snapped.“If I remember correctly, the doctor instructed me to confiscate your phone and laptop, Mitsuru-san. I also remember that during a rather bad fever, you were hallucinating a board meeting,” Aigis said.“Yes, thank you Aigis,” Kirijo said testily. “You’ve made your point.”“How about we take a vacation after dealing with all this. Nice week of holidays in quiet Inaba.” Hanamura said. “We can stay at Yukiko’s Inn, relax at hot springs and have an amazing boring time.”“After this, I’ll need to… make sure nothing went wrong in my absence,” Kirijo protested.“You’ve told me yourself how much you trust your second in commands, Mitsuru. They can handle it,” Sanada said. “You’ve earned this, Mitsuru. We all have. The whole ‘sacrifice ourselves for redemption’ thing is a dumb teenager thing we should leave behind. We’re good people, and we do good things, and sometimes we deserve to have some good times.”Mitsuru sighed, but it didn’t sound unhappy. “Very well. I suppose. Just one week though.”That was received by general cheering. Narukami looked down at Morgana. “Hey, and you’re invited too, of course.”He looked up. “No thanks.” The answer came without any need for thinking. “Sounds like it’s a place for you and your friends.”Narukami hesitated, then nodded. “Well… feel free to change your mind, okay?”He knew he was doing the right thing, helping these people. Didn’t doubt it. But it seemed unfair that doing the right thing felt so bad. All he could think off were the Phantom Thieves, and how hurt Joker had looked when he rejected him, and how much he himself hurt. How part of him really wished he’d taken the deal, was saying that maybe it wasn’t too late.He missed his friends. And being with these good folks who were so close to each other made him feel more alone than when he really was… by himself.The meal finished soon after. Morgana tried to steer the conversation into acting against the Holy Grail, but none of the people seemed to feel any urgency. Narukami just said that it was late, and everyone had a rough day, and they should go to sleep. They retreated to Naoto’s car. Apparently, that hadn’t been taken from them. Kirijo, Satonaka and Shirogane took the front seats, the men took the rear seats, with Aigis insisting that she could rest just as efficiently in the trunk. Morgana took a sleeping spot on top of one of the seats.It was much better than sleeping outside. But sleep still did not come easily.The next morning, the group definitely looked, well, like people who slept in a car. Their clothing crumpled, their hair a bit disheveled. But besides some complaining about sore muscles, everyone seemed to be in good cheer. Even a news report on the gigantic TV screen, announcing the Phantom Thieves having sent calling cards to several dozen targets in a tone that might as well be the weather report couldn’t dim their spirits.They all gathered in Shibuya station, spending the last of their money on coffee, waiting around in the center of the station. Narukami had said he expected things to turn around at this time.That’s when there was a sudden cry of “SENSEI!” and what looked like a garishly-coloured bear mascot ran at them and nearly bowled Narukami of his feet. He was soon followed by a tall, scarred young man and a graceful young woman with long black hair.Narukami chuckled. “Hah, I thought you’d be on this train.”Morgana looked on in stunned amazement as everyone started to talk at the same time, the black haired girl hugging Satonaka, the scarred boy yelling at Shirogane how worried he’d been and the guy in the bear outfit refusing to let Hanamura escape from a hug. “Ah, you found him! What the heck is happening? Nanako is worried sick about you and the whole country is acting crazy. You’re involved in something weird again, aren’t you?” A middle aged man came at Narukami with a scowl, and that one seemed to surprise him.“Uncle Dojima, you’re here too?” He looked at the three first people.The scarred boy shrugged. “What? Ya think I can tell a police detective that he shouldn’t get involved in this? We only managed to convince some of your friends to stay in Inaba by telling ‘em someone had to look after Nanako. Kou and Daisuke are gonna be here in fifteen minutes. So is Ai.”“YU!” came another yell from a different direction, and a woman Morgana recognized from posters as Rise Kujikawa suddenly threw her arms around Narukami’s neck in a way that would probably have drawn a lot more eyes in normal circumstances. Behind her, another woman was talking on her cellphone. “Yeah Fuuka, they’re here. You call Labrys, Ken and the others and tell them to get to Shibuya station. They’re not gonna be hard to find.”Before long, where there had been a small group, there was a veritable little mob forming, with reassurances given that they were alright, and explanations deferred until everyone was gathered.Finally, Morgana couldn’t hold back. “But… how did you know they would come? Did you have some contingency set up for this?”Narukami smiled. “Not really. But I knew that if I suddenly became impossible to reach, especially when things are going nuts, I’d have all these people here looking for me. Even if some of them can’t help as much as others with this problem.”“But the Holy Grail cut all ties you had with society,” Morgana said.“The Holy Grail is powerful, there is no doubt,” Kirijo said proudly. “But the bonds that we forged cannot be broken by some would-be god.”That both explained things, and made Morgana feel really bad. “Eh… guys.” The one that Morgana had caught was called Daisuke Nagase gave a concerned look. “You eh…. You’re talking to a cat.”Narukami turned to him and smiled. “Oh, that’s… that’s a long explanation. But I think everyone’s here. Okay, where do I start…”…Morgana had taken some distance while the story was told - with plenty of interruptions. He knew how it went, and didn’t want to hear it again. Then he noticed the one in the bear outfit sitting next to him. “Hey there, I’m Teddie. Sensei told me you’re kind of like me. Sort of.”Morgana was surprised. “Wait, you can hear what I’m saying?”Teddie chuckled. “Yeah! Probably cuz I’m from another world as well, just like you! I used to be a Shadow. And you look a bit lonely, so I thought I’d come say hi!”“Oh. Hi,” Morgana said without much enthusiasm.“You know, I had sad moments too, feeling like the world was bear-ren and lonely. But you know, these people are really nice and I think you’ll find a place to belong…”“I have a place I belonged… with friends. I had it. And I gave it up,” Morgana said. “To do the right thing. The people that we’re gonna fight - they are… or they were my friends.” His voice was breaking. “I don’t want to replace them. I can’t just ‘make new friends’ right now. Every time they’re being friendly, it just reminds me of us Phantom Thieves together. It hurts.” He sighed. “I just want to… finish this. See what happens then.”Teddie was silent for a long while. “That’s… oh no.” His own voice broke as well. “That’s terrible! I don’t… I…” he stammered a bit, then finished. “I hope things turn out okay.”Morgana sighed, grateful that Teddie at least, didn’t try to be a friend right now. “I hope so too.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It had taken a fair bit of explanation to bring everyone up to speed, especially with all the people who had been completely in the dark. If not for the fact that there were a whole bunch of folks confirming his story, and the way the country was going weird, some of them might have thought Yu had had a psychotic break. But in the end, everyone had been on board. It’d taken a bit more doing to convince Dojima and the other people without Persona to stay behind. In the end, the people going in were Morgana, Yosuke, Chie, Teddie, Yukiko, Kanji, Naoto, Mitsuru, Yukari, Junpei, Ken, Aigis, Fuuka, Labrys, and himself. It was the most power he’d seen gathered since the Grand Prix. When they arrived in Mementos, the first hurdle was to get everyone on board their vehicle. Morgana seemed a bit nervous, and it took a lot of squeezing, climbing on the roof, and leaning out of the door, but everyone got to ride along.On the bright side, any Shadows they faced were destroyed in moments.There were no trains blocking them this time, no Phantom Thieves lying in ambush. Between Rise and Fuuka, Yu doubted even they would be able to hide from them.Soon they they arrived at the end of the line, the end of the railroad, the Prison of Regression. The huge doors were open, long lines of golden-eyed Shadow versions of people waiting in neat, orderly queues to get in.“We infiltrated the place by climbing that wall,” Morgana said, pointing.Yu nodded. “That means they’ll probably expect us to go through there. If there’s a trap, it’ll be there. We’re not really good at sneaking, and there’s fifteen of us.”And so, they walked right through the front door, past the queue, getting only tepid objections from the Shadows there.They braced themselves for a fight, of course. But there was none.No guard Shadows presented themselves. Rise and Fuuka scanned, and found that there were no Shadows on that floor.They walked further in. Besides the absence of guards, the place was as Morgana remembered, except larger and more crowded. Indifferent, morose Shadows lingered in their cages, mostly ignoring them, sometimes half-heartedly mocking them for the folly of resisting or urging them to join their ‘freedom from choice.’It was creepy, disturbing, and made all the more worrisome by the knowledge that this was part of how all these people felt.But only part of them.Still, they made Yu wish for a fight, just to feel something else than the encroaching despair of this place. His hands were clammy on his katana’s hilt.Finally, after descending deeper and deeper, sometimes aided by Morgana changing into a van, Rise and Fuuka gave a warning.“A lot of Shadows in this place. Nothing too strong but they’re all… gathered together. I think we’re gonna have a big fight on our hands here,” Rise said, worriedly.“And there’s also people just ahead. Those must be the Phantom Thieves,” Fuuka added.Yu looked down at Morgana. “Are you ready for this?”Morgana nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”They stepped forward into the next room. It was cavernous, like the ones before,with several large prison cells. But unlike many others, this one had one wall dominated by a massive door. In the middle of the room was a round table, a sword laying on top of it. And sitting at the table was Ren Amamiya, in his school uniform. He looked up to them. “So…. you came. And you brought friends. A pity.”“You thought Yaldabaoth could break the bonds I forged?” Yu said.“No, I thought maybe you wouldn’t lead your friends into a lost cause. They’ll never see the sun again. I hope you told them that at least,” he said.“If we lose, yeah,” Yu answered.“Which we’re not gonna do,” Akihiko said.Ren sighed, then looked at Morgana. “Morgana, it’s still not too late. I don’t want us to fight. I don’t want to do this to you.”“That’s my line, Ren,” Morgana said. “You’re the one who turned against humanity. You’re the one who should switch sides again.”Ren shook his head. “Like it or not, I am on humanity’s side. Humanity just isn’t as good as you think it is.” He sighed and stood. “Alright. Let’s get this over with.” He grabbed the sword.“We’ll show you the power of our bonds!” Aigis stepped forward.“You’re not the only one who has friends.” Ren said. As he spoke, from the hallways behind them came the other Phantom Thieves, though most of their faces were unrecognizable behind their helmets.One knight in black and yellow, carrying a large warhammer crackling with electricity, a skull adorning the plate mail.One knight in burgundy red, a chain whip glowing a dull red with heat, decorated with a panther.One samurai, slightly out of place, but still in the mold, the banner on his back showing a fox, the vapor from his katana betraying its icy touch.One knight in dark metal grey, with no weapon except the menacing spiked gauntlets humming with power, a queen chess piece on her stomach.One knight in purest black, carrying an axe that seemed to inspire fear just from looking at it, with no decorations to break the darkness of the armor.And one Lady, red haired and dressed in fine white robes, thick enough to remain fully opaque, even though they were soaked, like she’d just come out of a sea, or perhaps a lake, a mask of reeds adorning her face.And then, there was a flash, and Ren too, stood in armour of white and gold, a golden crowned helmet on his head, and the sword in his hand shining with an otherworldly light.“I have my bonds too! And we will fight together. And besides that, I have all the Shadows of Mementos!” Ren yelled. “Queen, you take command. I’ll deal with Narukami. Knights of the Grail! TAKE THEM!”“Guys, take commands from Kirijo please. I’ll handle Joker!” Yu yelled. He stormed forward. Shadows started pouring in from all sides, Queen and Mitsuru’s orders erupting. Joker got on top of the large round table, giving him a challenging stare, and Yu answered, leaping up to meet him. “You think you’re the hero in this story, Narukami? Are you supposed to be the good guy?” As Joker raised the visor of his helmet, it burned away, the fires giving birth to Mother Harlot, her skeletal face leering at Yu as her mount growled at him. Yu called forth the Norns in response, the three sisters gazing impassively from their clock. Ren charged even as Mother Harlot unleashed a wave of cold. Their blades clashed, but Yu pushed him back at the same time a powerful gale from the Norns struck their opponent. “I think you were supposed to be. I’m just a back-up. Because you didn’t do the right thing.”----------------------------------Mitsuru confidently directed groups around to deal with the coming armies and steered her Persona to freeze some onrushing Shadows. She heard a crash behind her. Naoto had interposed herself between a charge from Noir. Naoto stood firm, if wobbly. Mitsuru thrust her rapier, and Noir leapt back towards the line of Shadows.“Please keep commanding, Kirijo-san, I’ve got your back.” Naoto pointed the gun at the Shadows. Smirking, she waved it around. “Come on then, army of idiots. Who’s up first?” The gathered fighters hesitated.“You’re more afraid of her than me?” Noir said, raising her visor to show a bright smile as Astarte materialized. “How interesting.” The Shadows charged.
Flying above the battle, Oracle had stabilized her flight, quickly tapping on the keyboard within her Persona. She’d just managed to get a good view on Aigis, starting up the protocol when she heard a loud shout. “Oh, no, ya don’t.”Labrys flew through the air, crashing hard into the Phantom Thief’s Persona. From her back, Teddie sprung, getting on top of the sphere. “The only real Knight here is Teddie!” he said, jumping up and down and forcing it down.“Damn it. Had to use my Burst Gauge already? Weak!” She slammed a button, and with a bright flash of light, an unfortunate Shadow was now in the place of Oracle, facing down the two fighters.----------------------------------“And the right thing would be to return to the status quo?” Joker called out. Ongyo-Ki lashed out with its weapon at Helel.Yu charged, sword held high. Helel flew backwards and raised his arm. Explosions rained around Ongyo-Ki. “Better than leaving the whole of humanity enslaved!”Ren dodged to the side, pinning Yu’s sword with his own and punching at his face. “Spoken like someone who’s never really had to deal with the consequences of people being free!” His Persona vanished, replaced with Cybele hanging in the air.Yu stumbled back, Helel blinking out, replaced by Scathahsh. “You think we haven’t suffered? You think we haven’t seen the worst of people?”“You’ve seen a few murderers here and there. I’ve seen the rotten heart of this city, this country, this world. There’s no point in trying to pick off a corrupt adult here and there. A new one will just take their place,” Ren shouted, and Cybele peppered both Yu and his Persona with bolts of light.----------------------------------Fuuka was within Juno, her voice and mind racing as she paid close attention to the Shadows’ weaknesses and passed them on. When a mob of Shadows made for her, she didn’t see them until they burned in sudden magical flames.“Please maintain a minimum safe distance,” Yukiko quipped, fanning herself.“Agami-san, thanks but watch…”There was a bright explosion, and out of the light appeared Queen, her fist slamming in Yukiko’s gut. “Next wave of Shadows - charge! Take out their communication!”
Akihiko and Kanji backed off from Fox, panting in exertion and shivering with cold. Caesar and Rakuten Maou followed suit. “Not getting tired, Kanji-kun?” Akihiko said.“Pft, just make sure you keep up,” Kanji scoffed.Fox laughed in front of them, despite the Shadows having been thinned out around him. “Marvelous, excellent. Fleeting and beautiful like a sunset! Come at me again! Let me see your last battle!” He extended his katana in invitation.With a battle cry, they charged.
----------------------------------“There are other ways to change it!” Two Odins now stood. Their spears were in a deadlock, and so were the swords of their summoners.“We’ve had hundreds, thousands of years to change it! We never did. This is real social reform. No more Kamoshidas or Shidos, ever again. We will do it, and you can’t stop us, Narukami!” Ren dodged to the side with the clang of metal on wood. Both of them panted.“Humanity can do better than that!” Yu said. He called forth Ishtar, his injuries fading.“Oh yeah? Give me an argument. Give me proof!” Ren shouted. Another Ishtar erupted out of blue flames and healed him as well.Yu narrowed his eyes. “I don’t need to. Because you argue in bad faith. You don’t believe what you’re saying.”----------------------------------Yukari kept close to Rise, shooting arrows and letting Isis throw fire and wind. All the while Rise was shouting encouragements and warnings to their friends. When Panther tossed a fireball, the warning came just a second too late. Yukari could barely jump back, the heat scorching some hairs. She turned, then felt a whip curl around her legs, sending her sprawling.As she looked up at the Knight, she said, “There’s something you don’t know.”Panther smikred. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”Rise kicked her in the back of the knee, hit her in the back of the helmet with her mic stand and then had Kanzeon send the Knight flying with a burst of sound. “I can fight too.”
Chie extended a hand to Aigis, pulling her up from the floor, just in time for the lightning bolt to miss them.“Let’s finish this!” Skull shouted, not giving them a moment to rest, shadows darting in with him.“I am sorry to slow you down. His force is considerable,” Aigis said, worry sneaking in her voice.Chie panted. “I’ve got an idea. Hoped I didn’t have to resort to it, but it’s come to this. Aigis, clear me a path.”“Affirmative.” With that, Aigis brought forth Athena. The Persona stormed forward, and the Shadows that weren’t destroyed were thrown to the sides. Skull stood, readying his hammer.Aigis stopped and ducked aside.Chie ducked under his swing and delivered a kick straight at his bad leg.
----------------------------------Ren charged forward, delivering a wide flurry of strikes, forcing Yu to step back as he parried them. “What? You arrogant bastard. You think you know me? You think you know what I’ve been through?” Chi You delivered a similar series of blows that Futsunushi’s blades could barely parry.“No. I’ve had bad times, but I never had my life come apart like yours. I’ve never had to suffer what you have,” Yu said, moving to the right, the two of them walking near the edge of the round table.“Exactly! Did Morgana tell you that then? He’s obviously misjudged me before.” This time Joker switched out, and once again, the two wildcards had the same Persona out. Renstruck, but as Yu’s Persona vanished, Yu dove out of the way towards the center of the table. “No, Morgana believes you.” He called forth Mada, who sent a wave of fire at his opponent. “I don’t. Because of your friends. Not just the Phantom Thieves, but all your other friends as well!”----------------------------------Morgana had a hard time keeping up with the two with him. Yosuke danced and weaved past shadows, Susano-o sending out blasts of air as he did, while Junpei just dashed like he was making for the next base.Yosuke pointed towards the round table, where Yu and Ren were battling. “Let’s see if we can help him out. Doesn’t feel good letting partner do this alone.”“Yeah, we’re not left taking out only faceless fodder. Let’s go for the head honcho,” Junpei said.“Joker…” Morgana said hesitantly, then spoke gruffly. “You two had best be serious if you’re going up against him. He’s no easy mark.”With that, they rushed forward towards the table. Immediately, Shadows started to converge on them. They burned two, ripped four to shreds with gales, and straight up beat down three more, but eventually, a wall of shadows stopped them. That’s when Ken came running in behind them. “Junpei, boost me, I can make it!”“Wait, what? Alright!” He dropped his bat, folding his hand together, and as Ken stepped on it, threw him high.Mona saw his arc and called out. “Hanamura, boost him!” With a summon, Hermes and Susano-O were out, blowing the youngest of the group higher up. With a victorious shout, Ken landed spearpoint first on a Shadow, then sprinted off, the Shadows behind him too busy with the other three.He got closer and closer to the table, focusing on delivering an incapacitating strike to the rear when….----------------------------------“I protect them! It’s for them I’m creating a better world, a safer world!” Joker said, crying out in pain and anger at the fire, his armor glowing.“That’s a lie!” Yu shouted, his voice harsh on the word ‘lie.’ “I know how this works. They aren’t just casual contacts. They are the bonds that give you power. You don’t get that by just being friendly, you get that by believing in them.” “Yeah! So what? I want to support them! And to do that, for almost all of them, I had to change some asshole’s heart, or the world would grind them down. Why wouldn’t I change the world?” Joker called forth another Persona, Metatron, the metal angel gazing down coldly at Yu.“Because of what they represent! If all attempts to improve humanity without the Grail are pointless, then why is Toranosuke-san trying to bring better politics? Why is Ohya trying to uncover the truth? Why is Kawakami-san trying to prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow?” Izanagi appeared behind Yu, his blade raised in challenge.“They’ll still do that! It’ll be easier” Ren shouted hoarsely. Metatron pointed and light exploded around Yu. It hurt, but he withstood it.“It’ll be pointless! It makes everything that they believe in a mockery. And I know you believe in them. Or will you tell me that their ambitions are hopeless?” He stepped forward, looking Ren straight in the eyes.“Shut up! You don’t know anything about me!” he snarled, the Persona gathering power for another blast.“It’s as your friend said in the Palace. You are judged by the company you keep. Your bonds tell me enough about you. There is no point in trying to convince you that this world you are creating is rotten. You already know. What I want, is for you to come at me with THE TRUTH!” And with that Izanagi thrust forth his blade, and a brilliant ray of light, brighter than any of the attacks that Metatron had shot at him enveloped Joker.There was a scream, and the sound of tearing metal. Scraps of the armor flew off the table, crumbling into gold dust as they fell to the ground. The crown landed on the stone floor and shattered, then too crumbled.Then Yu saw a figure coming through the fading light, and he had to leap back.Ren was still up. He wielded the broken sword as a knife. Rather than in armour, he was dressed in a threadbare striped prisoner uniform. Yu had to leap back, raising his sword to keep a distance.“You’re right. And we were doing so well at forgetting it,” Ren said, almost sullenly. “I know it. We all know it. We hate this world we’re making.”“But why?” Yu said.“Isn’t it obvious?” Ren said, shaking his head. “Didn’t Morgana tell you? We can’t beat the Holy Grail. He’s empowered by… everyone.”“If we fight together…” Yu started, but had to stop. He had lowered his blade a bit, and his opponent had darted forward, more desperate, swiping rapidly. Pain blossomed in his right arm.“I wouldn’t have given up if I thought we had a chance. We didn’t make a dent, Narukami. I don’t know what you fought, but even if we all fought together, we wouldn’t make it.”“So you’re giving up?” Yu asked, keeping his sword up.Ren started to circle him. “A friend of mine once said, that if you cannot win, you should concede gracefully.” He darted forward, arm extending in a thrust.Yu grabbed him by the wrist. “Then concede!” he said, using his sword to gesture at the battle.The stream of Shadows hadn’t stopped, but they’d been bottle-necked, kept at bay at the room’s entrances. Without Queen’s leadership, they were easily held back. The Phantom Thieves themselves had gotten encircled, constantly bombarded by magic, barely able to make a few counterattacks.The Phantom Thief leader pulled away, the anger fading from his eyes. “Let them go,” he said. “I’m the one you want. I made the deal with the Grail.”Yu shook his head. “They’d come right back for you, Joker. You know that as well as I do. And they followed you into this.”Ren licked his lips, then looked Yu in the eye. “I got one more trick to play. But it’s a dirty one.”Yu raised his sword warily. “Ren, just give up, we’re not gonna…” Ren charged. Not the quick nimble attacks he made, but a telegraphed, attack leaving him wide open. He didn’t try to get past the sword, in fact he closed his eyes and ran right…Yu forced his blade to the side hard as Ren almost ran right on top of it, getting nicked in his own shoulder for his trouble. He jumped back. “What?”Ren turned back to him, his face pale in fear. “You know a lot about me, Narukami. But I studied you as well. You won’t risk killing me. Let them go. By the time they’ll make it back, it won’t matter anyway.”The kid was right. It was a dirty trick, but Yu wouldn’t risk it. “Kirijo-san!” he called. The fighting slowly stopped. “Let the Thieves run, please.”“Go!” Ren shouted. “I’ll be fine!” There was some hesitation from both sides, but under Queen’s command, the Thieves retreated, the sounds of their booted feet vanishing in the distance, the Shadows pulling back alongside them.Ren sighed, extended his arm, and dropped the broken sword before raising his arms.“I surrender.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ren had the key to the Velvet Room on him. When they entered, Yu noticed that there were several cells that had been made ready. Their prisoner confirmed this would be where they would have been locked up.It was… familiar in some ways, alien in others. The colour was there, but the prison - , it felt all wrong. And then there was the Attendant. Like a younger, more distressed Margaret. Lavenza was initially surprised, then ecstatic when she was let out of her prison cell, quickly embracing and thanking Morgana.Ren, without saying a word, walked into the cell she vacated, sitting down on the bed.“How could you, Trickster?” she asked of him. “I trusted you.”“Lavenza, I barely know you like you are right now. As to what you were...” Ren said, leaning his head back. “You were my warden, and you almost were my executioner. I don’t owe you anything. You asked me to go fight a god. I refused. You and your master are the ones who pinned this ‘Trickster’ thing on me.”“I’m not sure what is worse. When I thought you were serving the Grail out of a misguided sense of justice, or now that I see that it is simply cowardice,” Mitsuru said, her words harsh and cutting.Ren looked up, and spoke in a flat voice. “I’m not like your friend Makoto, Kirijo-san. I’m nobody’s noble martyr. We fought him once, and I saw all my friends vanish, screaming. I’m not doing it again. You want to give it a try? Go ahead. You’ve won your chance.”Yu spoke. “You know, I think I get where you’re coming from.” He held the one of the bars of the cell. “Back when I was your age, we fought Izanami. She was massively powerful. And, at some point, it seemed hopeless. I too… watched all of my friends fall.” He shook his head. “It was terrible. Terrifying. It felt like nothing we had done before mattered. But I drew on the strength of my bonds. And we beat her. I think we can beat this Grail as well. And I think you can too.”Ren looked back with tired eyes. It stung Yu to see a hopeless look like that on a young face. “If she’d offered you an out. If after seeing all of them fall, she’d offered you the chance to back off. Would you have taken it?”“I don’t think so. We’d gone through a lot of trouble finding her, after all.” he answered. “If you go after him and fail, the deal I have with the Holy Grail might be off. The bloody rains might come back. He might end the world. After all, when I let you walk away, I promised I’d take care of you if you came back,” Ren said.“We aren’t going to fail!” Morgana said vehemently. “Come on, Joker. I know you’re not going to give up! After all you’ve been through. We have these people backing us up. Let’s do it together. Please?” Ren shook his head. “You have fifteen people. The Holy Grail has everyone else. Whatever damage you do, it’ll just heal. No, Morgana. I‘m done. “ He moved to lay on his bed. “Look, you already failed the Holy Grail, right? What do you have to lose?” Yu heard Yosuke try from behind him. “C’mon, at least give us a hint. You know him, right?”“You will lose. I’m hoping the Holy Grail will feel merciful after. Can’t exactly hope for that if I help you.” He looked up. “You want my advice? You go there. You go on hands and knees and beg for forgiveness.” His gaze turned away. “Maybe he’ll let you go. Maybe he’ll give you your lives back. Maybe he’ll let you take my place, and I’ll just be stuck in this prison.”Yu looked for words in the silence, but none came. Ren closed his eyes. “You should go. You wanted to get to the Holy Grail right? It isn’t far. You can’t miss it.”Their conversation was over.…The gathering had left, even Lavenza following them to provide healing and rejuvenation. Ren was left lying on the cot, as if sleeping. “What’s the matter, are you simply going to watch?” A deep voice sounded.Ren opened his eyes. At the foot of his bed, leaning against the bars was Arsène, the fire making his expression slightly mocking. “I didn’t expect to see you again,” Ren said. “Are you here to tell me how much I let you down?”“I am thou. Thou art I. Did you let yourself down?” he asked.Ren sighed. “It was as Lavenza said. It was an unjust game, rigged against me from the start. Only winning move was not to play. To forfeit.”“And so, you made your choices, and you followed through on them. But why are you laying here now? As the battle is sure to rage,” Arsène asked.“I lost. They won. Now they get to see how futile fighting the Grail is,” Ren answered.“If you believe their fight is hopeless, all the more reason for you to make sure you are there to fight them, and gain clemency. If you believe it is not, then you should be there to help them. Be there with them, either with your shoulder to theirs, or your knife in their back. Persist in your betrayal, or forge a new treason. Save or damn humanity. Be the hero or be the villain, but never, ever be the bystander,” Arsène said.“Maybe I want to be,” Ren said. “Maybe I would like to not make the choice. I’m only human, right? Maybe I just want to stay in this cell and let others handle it.”Arsène laughed. “If that is truly what you wanted,” he said, even as he vanished into black smoke. “Then why did you take Hope’s Final Lesson with you when you went into this fight?”Ren sighed and got up. Arsène was right. He wasn’t going to sit this out. He was just putting things off. Ren reached down and raised the leg of his pants.Taped to his calf was a set of golden lockpicks.…It took some time to open the cell door, as well as the door that led out of the Prison. But open they did, and so he started his long walk. He encountered no Shadows. He didn’t imagine the few scattered survivors of the battle would have proven even a speed bump to the gathered group. Human Shadows in their cells were unmolested, and didn’t even acknowledge him as he passed.Then there was a sudden tremor, and a loud clamour of breaking rock, coming from the Grail’s resting place. The prisoners were suddenly restless in their cells, looking with dismay at the source of the sound.Ren ran as fast as his legs could take him, ignoring the panicked voices of the shadows beside him. Had they won? They couldn’t have...? He tried not to think, tried not to deal with the mix of hope and dread that was coming up.The Chamber of the Holy Grail was empty. Neither the Grail nor its challengers were present. Tubes hung limp from the walls. There was was a gigantic hole in the ceiling. All around him, in the wall of cells, the imprisoned Shadows were looking up expectantly.Something wet hit his face. He quickly wiped, and saw red stick to his hands.With a soft pitter patter, drops of blood from the distant heavens fell on the ground. He knew what that meant. The Cognitive World and the Real World had fused again.At that point, one of the prisoners recognized him. “Hey, it’s Joker, the Grail’s servant! He’s here to help protect the Grail!”Soon, the prisoners were chanting that name. His stomach churned and he clenched his fist.“Metatron.” He called forth. He didn’t even wear a mask now. The metal angel appeared. Without a word, it grabbed hold of him, beating its wings in a steep ascent. The lines of cells whipped past him, cheers following him. Cells turned to barren rock, then to soil, then a brief moment where it was sewers and foundations before they erupted out in the Tokyo sky.Metatron hovered, giving him the opportunity to gaze around. As before, bony, monstrous growths dominated the city as far as his eyes could reach. It didn’t phase the late morning crowds, salarymen and students quietly heading off to work in neat lines.He looked down at Shibuya, scanning for someone he recognized, and found his friends, looking up at him. They were with others, and from the way their hands were behind their back, they’d been captured. Narukami had kept some folks in reserve.He’d come back for them. They were safer than Ren, right now. And if he failed, nobody was going to get out of this. His eyes went up.An island was floating in the sky. From his angle, he could make out a group of people fighting. And facing them… a winged creature of brilliant metal and merciless light. It reminded him of Metatron. With a thought, the metallic angel continued his ascent. It was time to end this.

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Yu felt the healing magic from Yukiko rush through his aching muscles, springing back to his feet. He watched as Akihiko called for his Persona, destroying the arm with the book again. He’d lost count of how many times it had been taken down.The fight was turning into a battle of attrition. Their gathered group usually managed to shatter the arms as soon as they came out, and still pile their attacks on the center body. But while it seemed to dislike these hits, no crack was appearing. But its attacks couldn’t damage them faster than the healers they had could heal them, and between Rise and Fuuka, they’d soon learned what attacks worked on which arm, and what kind of attacks to expect.As long as he didn’t switch things up, this’d be a matter of who had the deepest reserves.And then things got switched up, when Fuuka shouted. “Someone’s coming! It’s… It’s Amamiya.”The fighting stopped. Even Yaldabaoth himself ceased his attacks as Amamiya’s Persona delivered him to the ground in between the two groups, then vanished. He was still wearing the prisoner’s outfit. His gaze briefly went over their group, but they quickly turned towards Yaldabaoth’s massive form.“So, Trickster. Once more you have slipped your bonds. I should have expected this.” The booming voice spoke, the vibrations shaking through Yu’s bones.“You are… the Holy Grail?” Amamiya asked. His voice was quiet, wavering unsure.“I am that too. Yet the Rebels for whom you pleaded mercy have defied and disgraced that form. And thus I am here as Yaldabaoth, Administrator of Humanity, to render judgement upon Man. Rehabilitation is impossible. A purge shall follow. Why are you here, Trickster? Do you believe that with these rebels having accomplished what you cannot, you should seek to join them in their rebellion?”Yu tried to read concern from the voice, the blank face unable to betray anything. But Yaldabaoth was in many ways far less human than Izanami had been. “Ren! Come on! We can do this!” Morgana shouted.Amamiya looked over his shoulder. And as difficult as Yaldabaoth’s expression was to read, Amamiya’s hid nothing.The Phantom Thieves leader fell to his knees, bending forward, placing his hands and forehead on the rough stone. “I came to plead, Lord Yaldabaoth. Plead for forgiveness. To plead for a third chance. For mankind. The arrogance was mine. Let the punishment not fall on humanity, I beg of you.”Yu’s sword seemed to increase in weight at the desperate plea. Morgana made a sound of wordless heartbreak.Yaldabaoth laughed, and Yu had to struggle to keep standing in face of the laughter. “You beg with great humility for a world you hate, Trickster. Why?”Amamiya raised himself up to his knees, so he could look up. “You’ve shown me, Lord Yaldabaoth. I saw it in the students, teachers, and parents of Shujin when Kamoshida reigned. I saw it in the cheering crowds for Shido. I saw it in the fans for Goro Akechi, and I saw it in the fawning comments of the Phantom Thieves website.” There was a pause, and Amamiya’s voice went cold and dead.“You are Humanity’s wish, Lord Yaldabaoth. We thought we might deliver freedom, but it was never what people wanted. To stand against you is to stand against humanity. I cannot change that. Far better for me to hope that one day, I might change myself, to find a place in the world that humanity desires. So I repeat my plea. Please do not purge humanity, but rehabilitate them, and grant them their wish.”There was a moment of silence, and when Yaldabaoth spoke, it sounded pleased, almost affectionate. “You surprise me, Trickster. I did not expect you to have taken my lessons to heart. Perhaps humanity can learn after all. Ruin might yet be avoided.”“Thank you, My Lord,” Amamiya said.“Yet first, rebellion must be stamped out. You will do so, Trickster. However, you yourself have shown the insufficiency of imprisonment to seal away the likes of these. Trickster, my Knight, my student, my servant. Destroy them.”It was an unfair request. Amamiya looked exhausted from the earlier fight, and was alone against all of them. He got up from his kneeling position like he was sixty. He turned around and looked at them. Yu tried to catch his eye, to try to will him to change his way, but Amamiya wasn’t looking at him, but towards Morgana. His face was grey.“Your will be done.” Yu could barely hear the words.Without a sound, a golden chain erupted from the metallic body of Yaldabaoth, striking Amamiya in the back. The wildcard gasped, but remained standing, his eyes suddenly glowing with an eerie golden glow. His spine straightened. In his head, Yu could hear Rise and Fuuka give panicked warnings about the rise of power.“Let the old champions of the Velvet Room be destroyed by the Trickster, to mark the start of a new age!” Yaldabaoth boomed.“Per…” Amamiya started.Yu’s mind raced over useless things. Could he have said something better? Could he have reached out in some other way?“...so…” came the second part, with difficulty.Should he have considered that Amamiya could have escaped? Should Yu have attacked him the moment he knelt to Yaldabaoth?“...na!” A golden light shone from Amamiya as a new Persona appeared, chained down on top of Amamiya. It looked like a towering figure of a man, with a beard and a dusky skin, dressed in robes. In his left hand, he held a bread covered in dip. On his belt was a purse that clinked with the sound of coin. Around his neck was a noose.The face smiled pleasantly down at Yu, even as it raised a hand for a lance of purest light to form.Yu heard Yosuke’s panicked request for orders, but his mouth was dry. All he could do was brace for the impact. Morgana rushed forward.The Persona struck. The light blinded Yu for a moment.The Persona had hit his target. The spear of light had pierced the God of Control’s side, the golden spear coming out of his back. “W… what… Trickster… you…”“You are humanity’s wish, Yaldabaoth.” Amamiya said, his voice tired, without any sense of triumph. “But they are not getting it.”The Persona leaned in, delivering a kiss to the featureless face of the creature. Explosions of light erupted on the eyes that the creature had on its palms. Yaldabaoth started to crumble, and as it did, so did the chain leading towards Amamiya, and the Persona.“No… I won. Mankind didn’t turn against me… I won…” His voice sounded, becoming quieter and quieter, until it was a whisper, and then the voice and Yaldabaoth were gone.“Congratulations,” Amamiya said, then fell to his knees, in exhaustion rather than submission....Yu ran forward, quickly grabbing the boy’s shoulder. To his relief his eyes were still open, focusing on him.“Narukami… how… how did you damage the Grail?” He asked. “How did you even get here?”Yu smiled. “The veins that fed it. We cut them. It was that simple.”Amamiya’s eyes grew wide. “What? No, that’s… that’s nonsense. It was, it was his support of the people of Tokyo. There has to be something… something special with your sword or something.” If anything, now he sounded angry.“Amamiya,” Yu said gently. “You’ve been learning lessons, but you had the wrong teacher. When you look at Kamoshida, or Shido, or any other tyrant - how strong were the bonds between them and the people that supported them?”Amamiya opened his mouth, but no words came out. His lips trembled, his eyes just stared. Then he hung his head and made a sound that was somewhere between a chuckle and a sob. “I’m a fool.”A few moments passed as everyone relaxed, and the first cheers were raised. They were interrupted by a door opening. “Narukami-san, Trickster.” The tone on the second word had a clear chill. “I’ve seen what happened.”Amamiya got back up to his feet unsteadily. Yu smiled at the silver haired attendant. “Thank you, Lavenza-san. Has Igor been freed?”She nodded. “He has. He is relieved that the Evil God has fallen, even if it was through his own hubris, rather than the actions of the Trickster. My master had high expectations of our guest, much like he had of you yourself. My elder sister told me about your actions. It is a shame that this cowardly Trickster fell far short of your standards,” she said, her tone sharp as she gave Amamiya a glare.Amamiya looked away from her. “I messed up. Don’t need you to tell me that.” There was an edge there. Lavenza either didn’t seem to notice or care.“My master believed in you. He believed that humanity would have a Trickster show up to prove the God of Control wrong. That you would show humanity’s potential! You had a rare opportunity to show you worth and you wasted it. You let us all down!” She advanced on him.“Really… I let you down?” Amamiya said, his demeanour changing as Lavenza spoke, a sullen, spiteful anger flaring in his eyes. “I owe many people an apology. But you know what? I had to deal with this whole thing blind. Being toyed with all the way. Getting abused by your split form. And all that because you, she who rules over power, and your master failed at fighting Yaldabaoth off, and left me at his mercy! To hell with your master and his little prophecies. You don’t get to feel let down, Lavenza! You are the one who failed me!”It was clear she hadn’t expected that. Neither had Yu. “I… I tried…. I didn’t…” Her lip trembled. Yu really wanted to comfort her, but this… felt like something he should stay out of. “I just… I just came here to tell everyone Igor was okay and…”“And to come and get me,” Morgana said.Amamiya looked, and whatever embers of anger he had sizzling were extinguished in a moment. “Morgana I.... wait… please… I….I’m sorry…”“Yeah, I’m sorry too,” Morgana said. Yu stepped away. If the exchange between Lavenza and Amamiya hadn’t been for him to intervene in, this one was even less.“We didn’t… we didn’t see a way out. We wanted to… to have you be part of it… I mean… you were right of course. You were right all along… I… don’t leave us.” It was odd, seeing Amamiya at a loss for words, reaching blindly like a man dangling from a crevice reaching for a handhold.“I’m Hope, Ren. I could never be part of what you were doing. When we started the Phantom Thieves, we wanted to bring hope to people, remember? That had nothing to do with Yaldabaoth or the Velvet Room. That was just us,” Morgana snapped. “You betrayed that. You all did.”“I.... Yes…” Amamiya’s voice broke. “We did but… we don’t… Please don’t leave us. Please! Please, forgive us, Morgana. Please,” he was on his knees, pleading with greater intensity than he had even pleaded for humanity.Morgana looked away. “Come on, Joker, please. It ain’t cool to see you like this.” He tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob. He put a hand on Amamiya's shoulder. “I… I forgive you, Joker. I forgive all of you. But I can’t go back. That place I belonged. It’s gone. I don’t… belong with you guys anymore.”Amamiya shook his head. “No… no, that’s not true, Mona! Don’t say that.” “I’ll always remember you. Narukami and his friends were alright, but they could never replace you. But… this is where we go our separate ways, for real this time.” Morgana gently removed his hand and walked towards the door that Lavenza was holding. “Goodbye, Ren. Give my regards to the others.”Amamiya seemed ready to make another plea, but in the end, just nodded. “Good… goodbye, Morgana. Thanks for everything.”The blue door closed and vanished. Amamiya wept. Everyone watched in silence. Even as the world around them seemed to distort, nobody moved an inch. And then, they were standing in front of Shibuya station.“Ren! What did you do to him?” came Sakamoto’s voice. When Yu looked up, the blonde was being held back by Dojima, still in cuffs. He was about to reply, but Amamiya spoke first. “The Grail is gone but… Morgana.. he … left.”He went among his friends, the group sharing their grief. Only Niijima and Sakamoto had been cuffed, the others, outside the Metaverse, were mostly restrained by the threat of force from a police detective and two college-aged athletes.“It looks like our phones have signal again. No more Metaverse app, of course,” Mitsuru said, looking at her smartphone. “All messages regarding our loss of our place in this world have vanished. I believe the first thing I will do is message them about my intent to take a week’s vacation.”“Alright, but what do we do with these kids? I’m starting to get weird looks from the people around us about these cuffs. Which is a good sign, I suppose, but someone’s gonna start asking for an explanation real soon,” Dojima said, looking around.“Let them go. I’m the one responsible. I asked the Holy Grail to control their minds,” Amamiya said. His friends jumped in immediately with denials.“Always with your tricks. I don’t believe you for a second, Amamiya-kun. Uncuff them, Dojima-san,” Mitsuru said. “I don’t think they’ll run right now. As the number one of the Shadow Operatives, I would like to have their smartphones. Just in case there is any trace on them.”“Oh, yeah, not like we were gonna let them keep them on them,” Ai said, holding out a plastic bag.Mitsuru took them. “I’d offer you reimbursements for them, but we’ll call it even for my laptop your virus destroyed. That said, I believe the Shadow-related threat is neutralized. I do not deign to make judgement about the rest.” She looked at Dojima. “Though I do believe they have been involved in illegal activities. I’ll leave that to your judgement, detective Dojima.”“Wait, what?” Dojima said putting away his handcuffs. “Tsh, now I’m almost missing the days when you kids left me in the dark.” He looked pensive. “Shirogane-san, Satonaka-san.” There was a serious tone in his voice. He usually just called them Naoto and Chie these days. “You know more about this than I do, what’s your input?” They huddled closer.“Eh, I’d say that anything after Christmas has a pretty big ‘Coercion’ on it, with the god threatening to destroy the world. Not that that one’s going to be easy to show in a court.”“Anything before Christmas however, they have done of their own initiative. They have forced confessions out of people. Guilty people of course… and in other ways violated people’s minds to change their behaviour. But with good intentions, of course.”Dojima nodded. “Yeah, I see. They helped clear up a big and ugly conspiracy. And that’s good, but they did commit some serious crimes. But I remember some kid I had to dead to rights for multiple cases of assault, and I decided to let that one go, and he turned out alright.” Everyone’s eyes went to Kanji, who looked a bit confused, then smiled sheepishly.“The courts had a hard enough time with the Adachi case. So my call is to let this one go. Maybe have some teacher talk some sense in the kids.” Suddenly Yu was the one who had all eyes on him.He smiled. “I’m not a teacher yet but, I probably am in a good place to talk to them.” He turned towards the Phantom Thieves,not speaking right away. Huddled together, they looked so young. Honestly, he hadn’t looked that young a few years ago, had he? He definitely hadn’t had that look in his eyes, scared and angry, like all of this was some cruel trick and they’d all get carted off to jail.“You messed up. I think you know that. I’m not gonna spend time making you feel bad about it. You feel plenty bad already. Nobody died. The world’ll be fine. You…” He licked his lips. “I can’t help but compare you to us back then, the Investigation Team. And you are so… angry. All the time. I know what you suffered. You have reasons to be angry. And then you go looking for evil, and you find it. But seeing only the worst of humanity, it distorts your perspective.”“Back then, in between kidnappings, we spent a fair amount of time goofing off. That year in Inaba is filled with some of my best memories. I think, all of you should spend time, just being kids. Have fun, do dumb stuff, maybe go on a date or two, don’t worry about anything more serious than exams.”“Leave it to the adults?” Amamiya said softly. Yu wasn’t sure if it sounded resentful or yearning.“Adults. They seem like an alien species, don’t they? You’ll all be adults soon enough. And if you’re really lucky, the mess will be slightly smaller when it’s your turn. Yes. Leave it to the adults. Teenagers shouldn’t have to deal with this. You said you don’t want to be a martyr, Amamiya-kun. And you are right. Don’t be a martyr. Your high school years are precious. Enjoy them.”He sighed. “There’s things you’ve suffered that I am lucky enough to not be able to understand. Maybe there are doctors, maybe there are supports group. Treat your wounds well.” He took out a piece of paper and wrote his number on it. “And for the things you’ve suffered that nobody else can understand.” He gave the paper to Amamiya. “Here’s my number. We’ll have time to talk later, if you want.”He took a few steps back, and the large group that had encircled the Phantom Thieves moved away, heading for the train station. “For now, you kids be good. I’ve got a niece I’m going to visit.” And he followedWith that, they left the Phantom Thieves.And if one was to look from above, the neat, orderly lines the people moving across Shibuya Square started to slowly come apart. People moved beside the sidewalk, then crossed diagonally, until there was just an ant’s nest of people, each trying to figure out the best way to go. A group of beaten teenagers briefly held up the traffic for a while, too stunned to do anything. Eventually, they recovered, and as one, they joined the crowds.